


From Beneath

by Justbrowsing



Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Still Have Powers, Based off the Scary Movie: Beneath, Canon Disabled Character, Charles and Erik are THE old married couple, Erik is not a Happy Bunny, F/M, Ghosts, Horror, M/M, Possession, mining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-26
Updated: 2017-03-01
Packaged: 2018-09-27 01:31:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 33,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9944387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Justbrowsing/pseuds/Justbrowsing
Summary: Loosely based off the horror movie: Beneath (2013). Erik and Charles live in a small mining town. They've been married for years, and together even longer. Charles is sent off to Amsterdam to raise grant money for his classes at the local community college. There's no reason to think that Erik would be anything less than fine in the mines he's been working in for years now. Just like there's no reason for Erik to worry about Charles leaving the country for a week. Of course they'll miss each other, but that's what emails are for.*Name change after discovering there is already a WIP under the former name.





	1. Chapter 1

Prologue

Early mornings are the quietest times for Erik. Everything about the world is silent and covered in mist. The first sound of substance is the coffee maker turning on. Then running water from a shower, though there’s no light under the door beyond the dim nightlight plugged into the bathroom socket. Anything brighter than a candle wakes his husband up, though a parade of elephants could tromp through their living room minutes after he fell asleep and all would be right with the world. The knobs squeak while closing off the stream, followed soft padding of feet. Magneto, their cat, knows it’s time for breakfast and dutifully follows his father out of the bedroom and into the kitchen.

The scraping of the can opener fills the room and then there’s a schlunk of wet cat food hitting plastic. Sometimes after that there’s crunching of cereal, or scraping butter over toast. Mostly, though, there’s silence. Eventually there’s the scratch of pen over paper, a scrape of a chair on linoleum, the closing of the front door, and finally the rumble of a pickup truck on its way to work.

Mornings are hectic for Charles. The shrill ringing of an alarm clock is immediately answered by their dog David barking a warning at the evil device. Sometimes, on very unlucky mornings, there’s a yip of pain as wheels roll over a tail. An electric razor and then a toothbrush buzz for minutes, echoing off bathroom walls. Mumbled curses sound as sweater sleeves whisper through neck holes and get caught on hair. More creative cursing as the doorbell rings.

Frantic scratching of claws and hisses as the front door opens and appreciative cooing sounds from the kitchen. Kibble being poured into a bowl. Water refreshed. Gagging noises of disgust following a whisper of paper being lifted from the table. Scolding, arguing, a slammed door, peeling of tires on gravel. Silence

The house sits empty for the next eight hours, at least. Not silent, though. There’s the ticking grandfather clock and leaky faucet. Sometimes the phone will ring, and a voice will filter through with a message. Occasionally there will be the knock of a parcel carrier, then the thud of a package being dropped on the stoop. But usually, the only sounds are the huff of a dog, the clicking of claws over linoleum, and the settling of an old house.

* * *

“Honestly, you’ve been married for ten years, and he still writes you love notes? How is your husband real?” Moira had been sensitive about relationships ever since she and her long-term boyfriend broke up a month ago. Charles knew her reasons, but it still hurt when she attacked his marriage. He and Erik worked very hard at staying a couple, and he didn’t think it was fair to look at one aspect that they’d never had difficulties with and assume that was the entire scope.

“He works in the mines, darling. Remember that cave in five years ago? It killed two people. He just wants to make sure that I know he loves me when he leaves for work. That doesn’t mean we don’t fight. It just means that he doesn’t leave for work without assuring me that he cares. Sometimes in spite of his anger.” Moira snorted and unlocked her office door. “Cheer up, darling. You’ll be back out there soon enough.”

The half-hearted grumble wasn’t very enthusiastic, but that had never put Charles off. They were set to go to Amsterdam for a conference the next day. He’d make sure she mingled and flirted the entire time. He may have been out of the game for nearly a quarter of his life, now, but that didn’t mean he didn’t make an excellent wingman.

Classes progressed as they normally did in the small community college. The students were interested and participated more than he’d originally thought they would. They were clever, and engaging, and he really had come to care for them in his two years of teaching at Greymalkin Community College.

With two Ph.D. plaques on his wall, the board constantly reminded him that he was overqualified and that they couldn’t raise his salary, but he didn’t mind that. He and Erik had grown up in this town, had gotten married in one of the two churches in this town, and celebrated their incredibly inebriated wedding night in this town’s only motel. He was a part of the library literary club, read stories to children on Saturday afternoons, and went to every sports event the high school put on. He’d even pitched a few games for the grocery store’s baseball team when Robby McNalty had fallen sick. He’d actually been fairly proud of himself for resisting his husband’s frankly ridiculous wiles when he’d stepped up to the plate. Erik had made sure to exaggerate how far his butt had stuck out, and had licked his lips quite obscenely as Charles adjusted his grip on the ball. The jeering of the crowd had bolstered his resolve, and Charles had managed to serve a wicked curveball that Erik barely managed to nick, which ended up flying right back into Charles’ gloved hand, getting him out right away.

Life in the small town may not be fast paced, or as exciting as life in Oxford had been, but Charles loved it for what it was.

When he returned home in the evenings he prepared dinner and set up his work at the small, cluttered kitchen table where he graded papers until his husband entered and set down his lunch box. Sometimes he’d be awake enough to join Charles for dinner. Other nights he’d stumble through to the bathroom, and take a quick shower before falling into bed. Most nights, though, he’d send a short text to Charles letting him know he and a few friends were going down to the local diner for dinner, come back late, and play a game of chess with his husband as they talked about their day.

Today appeared to be a special day, though. The sun hadn’t set yet, and Charles had just put the articles he’d been asked to review on the table when the familiar rumble of Erik’s pickup truck growled down the driveway. “Take whatever you’ve put in the oven out. We’re going out.” Erik was at the door and trading the keys for his truck with the Prius.

“Oh? Where are we going?” Charles wouldn’t complain, but it was certainly rare that they’d go on a date. They’d gotten married when Charles was eighteen. Erik had just finished his associates degree in accounting at Greymalkin and had proposed at the graduation ceremony. If Charles had been able to stand, he likely would have jumped into his boyfriend’s arms for how happy he’d been. Thankfully thry had both been spared that embarrassing display. But that also meant that they had developed a very comfortable rut in past ten years, and changing it meant a high degree of uncertainty.

“You’re leaving for a week, tomorrow. I want to take you to that restaurant in the city you like.” The grin Erik gave his husband was brilliantly white against the black soot of the mines. “Let me wash and change. I’ll be ready in a few minutes.” He pressed a kiss to Charles lips as he passed, but was otherwise on a mission.

Charles followed his husband into their room to change as well. They’d been tight on money the past month. Charles had new hospital bills he’d gained after he’d developed an infection. He wasn’t entirely certain that they could afford tonight, but he didn’t want to argue. Money was always a sensitive topic with Erik, and bringing it up had the potential to destroy the good mood Erik was in.

Changing into his favorite blue button down, slacks and blazer, Charles tried to look through the closet to see what Erik would be wearing. There weren’t many options, and he noticed that the magenta dress shirt was missing. With that in mind, Charles rolled over to the bathroom and observed his husband in the mirror. Erik’s fast shower was nearing completion already, and Charles didn’t even bother alerting the man of his presence as he entered and opened the medicine cabinet below the sink to grab some of his viagra. There may not be many chances for spontaneity, but that didn’t mean their sex life was nonexistent. “Just in case,” he called when he saw Erik smiling at him around the plastic curtain.

“Best choice.” Charles felt a wave of affection sweep through him, appreciating that he and his husband were on the same page. “I’ll be right out. Warm up the car?”

“Do you want to drive, or do you want me to?” Charles grabbed the keys from the bathroom counter as he waited for the answer. When they’d first moved in together it had bothered him to no end that Erik would bring the car keys with him where ever he was if he planned on leaving almost immediately anyway. Now it was habit to check Erik’s general vicinity before the hook on the wall if they were planning on leaving together and Erik was taking too long.

“I’ll drive. Just warm it up.” The water shut off and Charles let himself admire the lean muscular lines of his husband as he stepped out of the shower and reached for the towel. “Charles, go!” Erik scolded when he moved the towel down his face and saw his husband still blocking the way out.

“Alright, alright,” the professor acquiesced, backing out carefully. He had to avoid a curious dog and cat, but they knew to get out of his way if they were awake enough to monitor his movements. “We’ll be gone for a few hours now, my darlings. We love you very much. Be good.” He scratched both pets’ ears and fed them supper before heading out to the small green potato-car. Transferring over, Charles was careful to fold his chair up and maneuver it into the back seat. He’d just adjusted the heat when Erik came bounding out of the house in his black double breasted wool coat. Too heavy for so early in the season, but it was his best looking one, and Charles definitely appreciated the effort that was being put into tonight. “You look lovely.” The compliment was accompanied by a kiss as soon as Erik had buckled his seat belt.

“Thanks. So do you.” Erik’s grin was filled with excitement. It had been months since they’d left the small town, and he missed the bustle of bigger cities. “I already made the reservation, so you can just sit back and enjoy the view.” Charles settled in his seat and smiled as Erik expertly handled the controls.

Charles had been fourteen when his brother had pushed him down a flight of stairs. He’d been a paraplegic when he’d learned how to drive a car. Erik had already been driving for two years by that point, and had immediately shined to the idea of learning a new way to drive. He’d practiced alongside his new boyfriend. After thirteen years together, he was as proficient with the hand controls as Charles was. Though Erik did have the added benefit of being able to bypass those and use his feet if it was necessary. Charles had laughed when he’d watched his husband try to talk on the phone, eat, and control the car all at once. Thankfully it had been on back roads, but even then the car had felt completely under control, despite Erik swearing up and down that he hadn’t been using his powers.

The drive to the cities was uneventful and long. Finding a parking spot wasn’t difficult with Charles’ handicap sign, but they definitely caught some rude looks for it when Erik hopped out of the driver’s seat so he could open the door for Charles. Sometimes the looks were amusing, and sometimes they were tedious. Tonight the couple was in a good enough mood to give the pedestrians the benefit of the doubt as they worked together to open and lock the chair in place. “If you’d trust me, I’d be willing to fix that spoke for you,” Erik complained, glaring at the offending bar.

“I don’t care that you can. You’re always too tired and I’d rather you rested.” Charles reached over and entwined their hands together. “I’ll let you push me to the restaurant if that’ll make you feel better,” he offered with a flirty smile. “Make my ride smooth?”

“You don’t deserve a smooth ride for implying that I can’t handle a little bit of metal working after a day of work.” Despite the sour tone, Erik was smiling softly down at Charles. A sense of security wrapped itself around the metal of the chair as it went willingly under Erik’s powers. The chair lifted centimeters from the pavement and began floating towards the fancy restaurant.

Charles rarely let Erik push his wheelchair. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust his husband, but Charles did enjoy a bit of autonomy and what little control he could govern over himself, he preferred to keep. Erik had always been extremely understanding of that fact. Especially once Charles’ family had kicked him out of their home and they moved to New York City.

“This is wonderful, Erik. How did you convince Logan to let you out early?” Charles set his menu down and looked across the table at his husband.

“I told him you were leaving for a week and wanted to go out to dinner with you. He laughed, of course. So then I told him I couldn’t wait to see your sparkling blue eyes. Your winning smile. To hold those ink-stained hands in mine. I think I got as far as rubbing relaxing oils into your tense shoulders before Daniels convinced Logan to let me off early.”

Charles shook his head, amused. He couldn’t imagine Erik’s short-tempered boss putting up with any of that for long. “Do we own massage oils?” That detail had caught his attention, and he was wracking his brain for when they would have got them.

Erik’s mischievous grin was answer enough. “No. But why would Logan know what was in our cupboards?” Conversation carried well throughout dinner, and Charles managed to subtly slip his pill into his mouth at the end of dinner while Erik popped open the wheelchair again.

“Thank you for tonight.” Charles was staring out at the stars in the late night sky, but he looked over when he noticed Erik glance at him. “I really like that restaurant.”

“We go there every anniversary. I know you like it.” Erik smiled and held his hand out over the cup holders. It wasn’t often that he let his powers touch the steering column, but it seemed getting off a few hours early helped keep his energy up. Holding hands over the center console wasn’t something they indulged in often, and Charles was definitely going to take advantage of the gesture.

The house was dark when they got back. The pets would likely be in their kennels for the night, though David would want to go out one last time. Charles let Erik handle that as he arranged himself on their bed, excitement bubbling up his torso and exiting in a smile. When Erik sauntered in, he had already begun divesting himself of his shirt. “I have been wanting to mark your neck all night,” Erik murmured, kneeling up onto the bed to range over his husband.

“What? No kisses?” Charles wouldn’t have that. Kissing was one of his favorite things with Erik. He stole the first real one of the evening, taking charge immediately. Erik settled over Charles’ lap, hands coming up to cradle the smaller man’s head in his hands, feeling weak telepathy spark through their connection.

Charles moaned into the kiss, tongue flicking out before sucking on a lip. Erik’s legs rocked Charles up against the other’s torso, his covered erection brushing Charles’ sternum and pectorals with each mild thrust. Charles let his hand come up from the comforter to slide under Erik’s shirt. Warm muscles tensed under chilly fingers. “What do you want?” Erik asked, hands moving from Charles’ head down to the hands on his stomach, pressing them firmly to his abdomen to warm them.

“‘Just you’ isn’t acceptable for tonight, is it?” he asked, grasping at Erik’s side and dipping his head to nose at the button of Erik’s slacks.

“Only if you add some specification after that. I will accept ‘just you riding me hard’ or ‘just you bouncing in my lap on that lovely swinging chair we bought for the holidays last year that we’ve only managed to use three times in the past ten months.’”

Charles smiled against the fly, pressing his face harder to Erik’s pelvis. His husband’s breathing hitched above him and hands fell heavy onto his head. “Are you sure I can’t just suck you off? We both have an early day tomorrow.”

“You took a damn pill. We are not wasting that.” The statement was gasped out as the fly zipped down seemingly of its own accord, and Charles started tonguing the hint of newly revealed boxer fabric. Tugging at his hair sent sparks flying across his body, making him gasp and press closer to the firm line nudging his mouth.

“Wait, did you hear that?” Erik’s body was tense in Charles’ grasp, making him lean back to look up. Wind rattled the windows, but that wasn’t an uncommon occurrence in their old house.

“I didn’t hear anything.” Charles went straight back to applying himself to his earlier task of removing his husband’s clothes from his body. He was slightly disappointed when Erik didn’t seem as engaged as he previously had been.

“Charles, stop.” Erik firmly pushed his husband away and concentrated on the window. “You honestly didn’t hear that?”

Charles let out a frustrated huff and fell back to the pillows. “I honestly didn’t hear anything. Have you changed your mind about tonight?” He hoped that that wasn’t the case. The Viagra was expensive, even with their terrible insurance plan helping them out. However, if Erik didn’t want to keep going, Charles wasn’t about to try and convince him. “It’s probably just a wild animal. At worst, it’s some bored kids who shouldn’t be peeking in our windows anyway.”

“We really need some damn curtains,” Erik mumbled as he swept his undershirt off and crawled out of his slacks and boxers. “Guess someone gets a show tonight.” Charles’ back arched off the bed as Erik licked a long broad stripe up his torso from his bellybutton, rucking the dress shirt up to Charles’ collarbone as he went. “We really should get this off of you now.”

The house filtered out the howling wind and dry leaves scratching the windows as it echoed pleasured moans off its walls. The cry of a stranger would leak through from outside, but the pair in the bedroom were too preoccupied to noticed anything besides each other.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Asterisk (*) means it's a hover over. Sorry the poem's formatting is weird. I can't figure out how to fix it.

Morning was hectic for both men as they fought for space in the cramped bathroom. Erik, unused to dancing around Charles’ chair in the morning, stubbed his toe on a wheel when he was making his way to the kitchen. Magneto had taken up residence in Charles’ lap for the duration of the morning rituals, and David was prancing around, whining at the change.

“So I have all my notes, and will be presenting on Friday. My flight back is Wednesday, and I’ll be getting in late that night. Moira is going to be driving me home. When do you want me to call?”

“Don’t.” Erik bit into his piece of toast distractedly as he stared at the blank notepad.

“What do you mean, don’t? Don’t call? I’ll be gone a week. Won’t you miss me?” Charles set his spoon down in his cereal, looking at his husband with hurt.

“We can’t afford the long distance bills this month. Maybe if we had internet, I’d say we could Skype, but you know how I feel about using the library’s computer. We’ll survive a week apart.” Finally deciding something, Erik began scratching down a note on the paper.

“Of course we’ll survive. I just thought it’d be nice to call, too.” Charles drank the milk in the bowl and wheeled over to rinse his dishes out and put them in the dishwasher. “Remember when I was attending Oxford, and I went on that terrible internship to Brazil where I ended up with severe stomach cramps? I thought we could do something like what we did when I was in hospital.” Charles bit his lip, waiting to see if Erik would remember having whispered phone sex with him.

Erik set his pencil down before looking over at Charles. “Write to me. We can’t afford the phone bill for what you want. We’ll make up for it when you get back.” Erik’s movements seemed slow, though maybe it was just because of the early morning. Regardless, when he rose to put his mug in the washer, he lingered, bent over the roller rack. “I’m going to miss you, and I wish we could call. You know our bank account, though. And I know you’re going to want to go out and get a couple drinks with the other academics in Amsterdam. Spend your money on that, and not a long-distance call to your husband who would probably fall asleep halfway through, anyway.” That said, Erik closed the dishwasher door and absently pet David before kissing Charles goodbye. “Be safe.”

“Mmm, love you,” Charles murmured, chasing after the kiss. He wasn’t exactly looking forward to the trip. Erik avoided his husband’s affections, and headed straight for the front door.

It was only after the crunch of Erik’s tires over gravel had disappeared that Charles looked down at the note Erik had written for him.

""  
_Return my dearest Lord, at length return,  
Let me no longer your sad absence mourn_

" _-Anne Killigrew_ "

" _Return to me._ "

"_E_  
"

Charles stared at the message until firm knocking sent David into a fit. Magneto glanced up from the lap that he had commandeered before choosing to ignore the intrusion. Charles wished he could do the same. Regardless, he knew it was time to go. Moira had already let herself in, and smiled in delight at seeing Charles already up and ready. “Where’s lover-boy?” Her gaze surveyed the room curiously. She hadn’t seen Erik in quite a while.

“You just missed him. Let me get this great lump off my lap, and we’ll be all set.” Charles did his best to gently coax the fat cat off of him, but ended up uprooting him by force. His carryon was already placed securely on the back of his chair, and his duffel was in Moira’s waiting arms.

“Will you be warm enough with just that sweater? The wind is killer today.” Moira’s hair was a testament to that.

“Is it whispering?” Charles’ tone was teasing. It was a common question when there were high winds in the mountains. The old wives’ tale was that on windy days, miners could hear those that had died in collapses screaming for help. And in this small town everyone was a miner, or family to one.

Moira rolled her eyes and held the door steady so it wouldn’t bang against the siding as the wind took it. “Get out to the van, *pishóg. We have to get to the airport, or I’ll be banned from the conference if you aren’t with me.”

“That’s extremely unlikely. You can present our work yourself,” Charles stated calmly, even as he made his way out to her car. The vehicle wasn’t the easiest thing to get in and out of while the wind fought with the door, but Charles managed it every day and he would be damned if some obnoxious weather proved too much for him to overcome. He was just about to close the door when he thought he’d heard something. Looking at Moira’s side of the car, he blinked trying to reason away the voice.

Moira had just opened her door, which sometimes squeaked a complaint, but Sam had oiled the door for her just before they’d broken up, so that couldn’t have been it. “What’s up?” Moira was already buckling her seatbelt when she noticed the delay. “Did you pull something?”

Charles rolled his eyes at the question. One of Moira’s greatest fears was that he’d hurt himself because of her car. It was ridiculous, and he’d tried to explain to her that the likelihood of him hurting himself while transferring was negligible, but she had never truly listened to his reassurances. “Did you say something?”

“I asked if you’d pulled a muscle.”

“No, before that.” Despite directing the question at her, Charles’ eyes were roving over his house and front yard.

Moira stuck the key in its place and waited for Charles to shut the door. “No, why? What did you hear?”

Charles slammed the door shut and shrugged. “Must have just been the wind,” he said with a frown. A tendril of worry touched his senses, and Charles refused to look at Moira, hoping that her concern would disappear if he ignored it. “Let’s head out! I’m ready for some of those marijuana coffee shops I’ve been reading so much about.” His exclamation was met with a snort.

“Are you sure it’s not the sex shops? Don’t think I don’t know about your kinky little secrets,” she teased, heading out towards the city. No one was dropping them off and they were splitting the parking bill when they got back. Charles had made sure he’d saved enough for all the things he absolutely needed, and had been pleased to find he had some extra money for a souvenir for Erik. He wasn’t sure where the money had come from, since he was salaried, but it wasn’t uncommon that he lost track of his spending and saving. Charles figured he’d just been particularly good with his money last month in spite of the hospital visit.

With that in mind, he most certainly _was_ excited for the sex shop and museums he’d seen in the tour book. He didn’t feel the need to affirm that accusation, though.

* * *

“Mind that boulder, Lehnsherr.” Logan’s command was sudden, and unappreciated. Erik had been working on shifting the rock for the past ten minutes, and he’d been keeping a strong awareness on it the entire time. “Jacksy, get over there and help him.”

Jacksy was a larger man than Erik, and completely unaware of his body mass. Erik shifted over just in time to avoid being pressed tight up to said stone. Most of the men in the mines were stocky and muscular. Erik was one of the few tall ones, and it was a distinct disadvantage most of the time. He was the scouter when a new depression was found, and the entire team made sure to keep his duties a secret from his husband. Scouters were the most likely to die since they were charged with exploring newly excavated areas. He would find the best placements for the support beams, and would be forced to worm his way through tight crevasses.

Wade would have been their go-to scouter if the man weren’t missing half his braincells. His ability to regenerate made him foolhardy, and had caused more than one minor cave-in in his vicinity. He’d recently been stuck with inventory duty topside for using the digger in a known red zone. It wasn’t that he intentionally tried to kill his coworkers, but he would often forget that not everyone was invincible like him and Logan.

Between the two of them, Erik and Jacksy got the boulder into a stable setting and propped it with a couple beams. It was too large to turn to rubble with the grinder they had near them. Erik wiped his forehead carefully, making sure not to dislodge his hardhat. His bandana was already soaked through with sweat, and he’d only been working for three hours. His break would be coming up soon, and he’d take the time to go topside for some fresh air and the cool fall breeze.

Piotr entered the cavernous room and patted Erik on the shoulder in passing. “The professor left today, did not he?” The man’s thick voice rumbled through Erik’s bones from their connecting point. “All diner meals this veek?”

Erik grunted in response and grabbed his pic axe. “I made sure to transfer some money to his account so he’d have fun. I’ll be eating at home.”

“I vill spot you, comrade. You vorry about finances very much.”

“Don’t bother, Rasputin. Lehnsherr doesn’t take money from anyone.” Scott Summers was not Erik’s favorite person in the world, and a large part of him wanted to accept Piotr’s offer just to spite the man. Thankfully he had more self control than that. “When do they get back? MacTaggert promised my brother a private meeting to discuss his grades.”

Erik swung the pic axe and pulled at the rock he’d embedded it in. It was solidly placed, and he would need careful aim to remove it. It wasn’t like he hadn’t done the job hundreds of times before, and at this point could focus on holding a conversation while working. He just would have preferred it not be with Scott. “They get back in a week, Summers. Are you on break, or what?” The boy grumbled as he picked up his gear. At twenty-one, he was still new to the group and treated as such. He wasn’t the newest, but he was certainly low on the miner’s food chain. He was also doing his best to keep his little brother out of the mines, which was what everyone _in_ the mines wanted for their family.

“Dukes, we need you,” Logan called. All the men in the cavern rushed to press themselves against the nearest wall as Fred Dukes lumbered through. Curtains of dust fell from the ceiling, and everyone held their breath as rocks shook from the man’s weight. He was an asset, but the mutant was also a liability in the mines. Each room had to be cleared for access and the bolsters had to be checked for stability before Blob moved from his pre-designated spot. Erik sent his power out to the supports, making sure each bar and screw was holding despite the reverberations.

Dukes went to the spot Logan had marked out for him and punched the center of the X. Erik felt the vibrations in his teeth. He repositioned himself tighter to the wall, feeling sweat soaking through his flannel despite the cool depths of the mine. Scott’s fingers brushed his for a second before the younger man bolstered his hold on the bolder.   
“Lehnsherr, your turn.” The command was projected softly through the room, and Erik bade it despite the shaking in his legs.

“I’m due for a break, Howlett. Don’t send me in there if it’ll take longer than fifteen minutes to survey.” Erik was planning on going in, regardless. He didn’t particularly care if he missed his break. Under normal circumstances he’d be upset about not going up top, but this week would be an exception. Breaks slowed time down for him, and he wanted the days to go by as quickly as possible.

Squeezing through the crevasse Dukes had made would have been difficult if Erik were a claustrophobic man. The wall was tight against the brim of his helmet, and he could feel crags catching on the belt loops of his work pants. Some rocks grabbed his helmet tight. Erik closed his eyes and took a deep breath through his nose as he concentrated on what he had to do. The odor of stale water and wet minerals assaulted him. He could hear the men chatting quietly further back. They wouldn’t be digging until he returned. It was a safety precaution so nothing was loosened on him as he explored. Jerking his head back, Erik managed to dislodge the helmet and find a wider spot to slip through, his nose brushed the rock that had initially caught him.

A breeze drifted through, unsettling dirt onto his shoulders. Erik glanced down to check his footing, and breathed a sigh of relief as he saw its slope. The crack would widen soon, and he’d really be able to check out their new site. He inhaled deeply and held his breath for a second, preparing to exhale his way out of the tight spot. It was in between breaths that he heard it. A soft whisper ghosted past him, and Erik glanced back, headlamp bouncing off the water rivulets and sparkling down the path he’d just come. No one had followed him, and he could no longer hear the deep rumble of male voices, but he could have sworn someone had just spoken to him. “Hello?” His voice echoed off the walls and bounced back to him. “Hey Howlett, did you send someone in after me?” he asked, flinching at the sound of the feedback from his radio.

“Who — want?”

“Repeat?” Erik clenched his teeth at the shoddy reception. None of the men enjoyed using their radios. If they could find a technopath who didn’t want to escape their hick town they’d be fine, but any mutant able to manipulate virtual waves was off to the city as soon as they could catch a ride. None would stick around for a miner’s life.

Static crackled from the box and Erik put it away. He’d deal with the person as soon as they caught up to him. It was only a few more steps and held breaths until he squeezed through into the wide room. Erik whistled and observed the space.

It was large, and obviously used in the past as a base zone. The tables set up were covered in dust, and the maps and papers were rotted away. Sticks of dynamite were boxed up next to pics and nails. The wooden support beams were shiny with lichen and moss from the humidity of the cave. Erik glanced around, making sure to check the ceiling height and stability. His headlamp was meant to make looking around easier, but Erik always wished he’d carry a handheld. Those weren’t standard issue, though, and he wasn’t about about to waste money on batteries. Damn the mayor’s stinginess.

The fan back in the main cavern managed to send a waft of air through the crack and Erik shivered at the sudden chill that swirled around the room. He wished he could take a picture or video of the space. Charles would’ve loved seeing it. Erik would just have to make sure he remembered it well enough to give his husband a mental tour when he returned.

Normally Erik would return to the group for a report, but he was curious about the space that had been used as a ground base at some point in the past. Miners didn’t use dynamite anymore. They hadn’t since the sixties, when mutants had begun using their powers openly to help teams. Whoever had been here before had been excavating at _least_ fifty years ago. Judging by the rust on some of the railway nails, Erik would guess it had been even longer. Spyke would know. He was their resident historian. All miners knew wives’ tales, but Daniels had actually taken some courses at Greymalkin back when he’d thought he could escape the town.

“That’s one tight squeeze, Lehnsherr. I know you’re a skinny fuck, but Jesus you had to become fluid for one of those passes.” The young man fell through the opening and straight to his knees. He wasn’t as good with tight spaces, and had used this exoskeleton to widen the passage at one point, if the dust on his shirt was any indication.

“My height and lack of ass helped make some of those passes easier.” Erik sent Daniels a grin.

“Dude, I know I’ve got a fine booty. You don’t have to tell me you been ogling it.” The young man returned the smile as he smacked said ass.

Erik snorted and went to the table. “You wish. I’m not an ass man, and you are seriously lacking in my interests.” Erik looked pointedly at the man’s face.

“Just ‘cause I ain’t got no freckles don’t mean I wouldn’t please you if I put my mind to it. Lucky for you, I’m not interested in a Spartan lifestyle.” Daniels was moving towards the box of TNT when he recognized what he was looking at. “Whoa, man. This is some seriously old shit. We’re gonna need Howlett or Wilson in here for this shit. Look at the nitro on it.” Erik had already noted the crystals on the wrapper, and hadn’t planned on touching the box.

“I’m more curious about this stuff anyway. Leave the sticks alone. They’ve been fine up until now.” Erik carefully shifted aside the mildewing excavation plans, looking for one that may hold up to actual handling.

“What are the year markers?” Daniels edged away from the box before looking at the plans.

“No year markers, but they don’t show anything we don’t already know. Except maybe this.” Erik pulled out a plan from the middle and looked at the apparently finished hallway. “Does that look like the entrance to you?”

Daniels slid the paper over to him, the rustle of paper on soft wood unable to cover up another whisper of wind. Erik glanced at the darkness around them, looking for a source. “—never found.”

Erik turned back to his team mate and tried to remember anything that had been said. “Did you hear something just now?” he finally asked.

“Like what?” Daniels glanced around warily and Erik felt Daniels’ blood picking up speed as his claustrophobia created unlikely scenarios. “Like a tremor? Man, don’t be messing with me right now. We just created a new crack, and you _know_ those make tremors ten times more likely.”

“No, not tremors. You’re with one of the few that could actually give you a decent heads up. I’m talking about whispers.”

Daniels sent Erik an unnerved look. “You take something today?” The boy started gingerly gathering some the papers before edging back towards the entrance. “Let’s head back to the group. We might be able to sell these to the college and get a nice bonus package.” Spyke was ahead of Erik in the retreat, and Erik made sure to stay back. He would not be getting spiked just because the man sneezed or had a panic attack.

* * *

The bar was filled with people, and the scent of bitter alcohol permeated the air. “The funny thing, is that _Moira_ told me the exact same thing as we were heading over here. She swore up and down that humans would hold their own in a war against mutants.” Charles was well and truly drunk if he was spouting off mutant supremacy leanings.

“You really think we’d just let ourselves be decimated?” The man Charles was holding a conversation with was unimpressed with the current topic, and Charles could not stop for the life of him.

“Of course not, but the sheer number of mutants right now is overwhelming, and the scope of their powers makes it impossible to believe otherwise. Mutants are the majority now. And while I don’t believe that they should try and overtake humans, to believe that mutants would be the losers in a war is unthinkable.”

“Humans are resilient, you have to agree.”

“Of course they are, but you’re using the term human as though they’re a different species from mutants. We are all in the same species, or we wouldn’t be able to procreate and have viable offspring with one another. The actual term you want is powered and non-powered. And with that in mind, you have to agree that powered humans are just as resilient as non-powered. We have the same drive to live, but we also aren’t wiping out non-powered as homo-sapiens did with _Neanderthalensis_.” Charles was leaning forward, trying to engage the other man in a debate. He’d already forgotten that he was supposed to be Moira’s wingman. Not that she had been particularly encouraging about the current pick.

“Alright, Charles. I think you’ve had enough,” the woman stated, trying to pull her friend back.

“Do _not_ touch my chair.” The tone of Charles’ voice combined his sudden hit of sobriety forced Moira back a step. She knew that Charles hated people handling his chair, but she had never seen him so drunk when it happened. Charles straightened and guided himself out the door.

“I’m sorry about him. I’m just going to make sure he gets back to the hotel alright.” The man across from her nodded, still reeling from the telepathic backlash Charles had sent out. Moira hastened outside and towards their hotel across the street. “Charles, wait.” She hoped he’d stop, or slow down. He was always so fast if he wasn’t actively trying to keep pace with someone walking. It was pure luck that she managed to catch up with him at the elevator. “I’m sorry.”

Charles refused to look at her, eyes staring straight back at himself in the reflection on the doors. He rolled off down the hallway as soon as he could see it, not caring that he skimmed Moira’s shoe. Getting into his room was tricky with the weight of the door. Luckily, that was the only problem he had with his current stay. Even the shuttle was accessible.

Charles had planned on staying out late and enjoying the nightlife, but feeling his friend take control of his chair had worn off any enjoyment he’d been taking in the night. Admittedly, he hadn’t been entirely gung-ho with the plan anyways. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust her, but his need for independence was heightened when he’d been drinking. And she wasn’t his husband. Charles rolled over to the bed and threw his computer on the pillow before transferring over. He was glad that he had a work laptop, and hoped that Erik would be at the library after he got off. He’d said he would be.

Charles stared at the message he’d typed up for a few minutes before deleting it. Erik would just worry if he thought Charles wasn’t having a good time. That wasn’t an option. So with a great breath, Charles typed up a summary of the day up until he blew up at Moira.

The response was almost immediate, and Charles opened up a chat box. He laughed as Erik told him about the hidden cave they’d unearthed, and how Wade had been beside himself with jealousy at not being able to find a place that hasn’t been touched in decades. The bonus of there being explosives could have been a part of it.

" _Have you been to the redlight district yet?_ "

" _**Not yet. I’m still rather jet lagged. Perhaps I’ll head over there tomorrow. Do you want anything in particular?** _ "

" _I don’t think the workers enjoy being objectified_ "

" _**I meant a toy.** _ "

" _Ah, whatever you think looks interesting. Don’t spend all your money in one place. I’m going to get to bed. Long day tomorrow if we’re moving that crate of TNT. Love you._ "

" _**Love you too. Be safe.** _ "

Charles reread their messages one more time before stripping down and getting under the covers. He was too tired to actually go find his pajamas. He had faith in the hotel to not burn down while he was staying in it.


	3. Chapter 3

David was in a funk when Erik let him out the next morning. The dog moved slowly out the door, and sullenly went to the grass rather than romping through the yard at high energy. Erik watched him eat a few pieces of kibble as the bread heated up in the toaster. Magneto wasn’t much better, meowing loudly as he went from room to room looking for Charles’ chair.

“I miss him too,” Erik commiserated, stroking the poor thing’s back as it passed. Erik wrote his note as he always did, struggling to remember the exact verse he’d read the night before while messaging Charles. It had seemed perfect at the time, but now Erik was having trouble recalling the words. “I’ll be by at lunch to let you out,” he promised before heading out the door. It was rare that Erik spoke to the pets, but he knew they responded to it when Charles cooed at them. Maybe a little bit of sympathy would help their confusion.

The work yard was packed with cameras when Erik drove through the gate. “What the hell is this?” he grunted at Logan once he entered the main trailer.

“Alright gang, it seems that someone couldn’t keep their big yap shut about our find yesterday.” Wade was spinning around in his chair, hitting random buttons that messed with the spotter lights outside. Erik smirked as he heard camera crews complaining. “So now Mr. Mayor is holding a rigged raffle for one lucky news anchor to go down and film the exotic landscape of el Oscuro Mines. fifteen pennies says its playboy.” The miners groaned. No one wanted an untrained down in the mines, but it was ten times worse when it was a news anchor. They brought their crew and cords with them.

“Who’s going to be taking them through the hall?” Summers asked. It was a fair question. Only a few had made it to the room the other day, and they would be the ones to go through again. Erik crossed his fingers, praying he would be looked over.

Logan let out a snort of amusement when he saw Erik’s hands. “TV likes beautiful people. And we are in short supply down here. Your ugly mug is saved, Summers. He’s not much to look at, but at least Erik’s got height.” Logan gave Erik's shoulder a pat before heading towards Wade. “You’ll have to be careful, Lehnsherr. That dynamite is still in there, so make sure they don’t get anywhere near the box.” Erik sent the man a look that conveyed just how unimpressed he was. “I know, we all want them gone, but there are less messy ways, and they’re here for the day. Probably for a few more after. Hopefully we’ll be able to foist them off onto the college after we move everything out of there.” Logan pulled out the plans that Erik and Daniels had been looking at yesterday. “I’ve been studying this paper all night, and I think we should hold off on using machinery for this job. If we excavate and find another tunnel while the media is here, there will be no getting them off our backs. I’ll send Dukes and Muñoz over to this new entrance zone and see if they can break through without the need for official paperwork. The rest of you, look busy, but don’t do anything that will potentially cause a cave in on Lehnsherr. None of us want the Professor on our asses.” The group of men laughed and dispersed out the single door.

Erik stuck around until it was just him, Logan and Wade. “This isn’t safe.” Erik watched Logan carefully. The older man sighed and rubbed his eyes as he nodded.

“Believe me, kid. If I had any sway over Shaw, those bees wouldn’t be within buzzing distance of the mines. Unfortunately, he’s the one who ultimately calls the shots. Now paste on a happy face and get us some funding. Something good should come out of this circus.” Erik frowned and turned to the door. “And Lehnsherr?” He turned his head to the side to show he was listening. “Don’t fucking smile.”

Erik stepped out and held up a hand to block the spotlight shining down on him. He fought back the urge to flick Wade off as the spots followed his progression through the dark work yard. Cameras began aiming themselves towards him, and Erik managed to straighten up and grin as he neared the hastily erected platform where Mayor Sebastian Shaw was standing. “Mayor, what a pleasure.” It was said through gritted teeth, but clear enough to be understood. Shaw smiled wide and shook his hand as he introduced Erik to the crowd.

“Mr. Lehnsherr will be guiding MuTV through the mines today. He’s one of our most respected workers on the force, and is an excellent docent. He has guided me through the stunning maze that is our coal mines on several occasions. You’ll be perfectly safe with him in the lead, Miss Silverfox.”

Erik smiled at the woman, recognizing her from the mutant news source. At least she’d probably be able to protect herself, and had definitely been in dangerous situations before. “It’s a pleasure, Mr. Lehnsherr. Thank you for this opportunity.”

“The pleasure is all mine, Miss Silverfox. Are you ready to get dirty?” He looked down at her pressed suit and wondered just how many dirt stains he could get on it without being accused of foul play.

The woman had a winning smile, and she cocked her head to the side in good humor. “As dirty as a pig in mud. Shall we?” She beckoned her cameraman to follow as Erik led them towards the mine entrance.

Erik was grateful that he had walked Charles through the process on several occasions, and knew what needed explaining to laymen. The group put on their gear and Erik made sure that Silverfox and Hercules had their hard hats on properly before leading them over to the cart that would rocket them down through the tunnels. He didn’t bother yelling information at them, and Hercules thanked him afterwards. Especially since he seemed a little sick. Silverfox was the first off the cart, and moving through the area with barely pent up excitement. “Get a shot of that. What is that thing?” Kayla was standing next to a giant machine that was idling near the back wall.

“That’s our drill. It’s mainly use for large excavation jobs, but if we find a new zone, or we’re widening a pre-existing one, we’ll turn this on to make everything run much faster. It’ll be idling all day today, since we don’t want to risk a cave in with our new find, and turning it off and back on is a long process involving paperwork and permits.” Erik stood next to the beast of a machine before heading towards a white capsule. “This is our safety pod. It holds food, water, and oxygen. Split between all of the miners on this crew, it can last a week. That little black box on your helmet next to the flashlight is a safety siren. It sounds when a tremor registers up at base. If it’s going off, you make your way to this capsule as quickly and safely as possible. If you don’t have time, stay flat against a wall and pray to whatever you believe in.”

“How often have you had to go in it?” Erik grinned and shrugged, squinting at her in the camera light.

“I’ve been working down in the mines for two years, and have only been in there twice. Once a year isn’t so bad. Come on, I’ll show you the hallway.” Erik led the pair away from the capsule and past his coworkers. The men were all swinging their pics slowly, exaggerating their movements to resemble what movies showed. They figured that the harder they made the job appear, the less likely it would be to get greenhorns down thinking they’d be better than seasoned veterans.

“How many mutants are working in the mines?” Erik turned back to face the woman with a more natural grin. He knew how to play charismatic when he needed to. At the very least, if Charles happened to see a recording he’d be very willing to bestow compliments on his husband’s winning personality.

“90% of the miners are mutants. Higher in this crew. It’s safer for us than non-powered. Our mutations give us the advantage of survival. On this team, two are impossible to kill, two more are nearly unkillable, and the rest of us know how to keep ourselves safe during a cave in. The one non-powered is paired with a mutant that can share their durability.” Erik turned around to see the great crack in the wall. His headlamp shone into the tight space and the camera’s light aimed towards the ceiling before making its way down. “This is the hall. It’s about a quarter of a mile long, and sloped down. That chill you feel won’t get any better, so I hope that suit is warm, Miss Silverfox.”

“Don’t worry about me, Mr. Lehnsherr. I’ll be fine. Lead the way.”

The opening was wide enough for the group to walk forward, but it soon narrowed until Erik was turned sideways. He faced the camera, keeping view of the tourists to make sure that they weren’t about to panic. “Make sure you keep breathing. Most of the men down here have already made it through this place. If they can fit, then you can.” It was a lie, as only three had gone down the hall, but Erik would say anything to help abate the fear present in Silverfox eyes. He was certain that even the beast of a cameraman would fit through, but it would definitely be tight. “We’re almost there. Keep moving. If you get stuck, take a deep breath, move back and try another angle.”

Hercules got stuck a few times, but managed to remain calm enough that he was centered when he finally stumbled through the exit and into the room. “Wow.” Silverfox looked up and the camera light followed. It reached further than Erik’s light had yesterday, and Erik could now admire the stalactites hanging high above them. “This place is gorgeous. Do you ever lose that sense of wonder?”

Erik’s face must have shown his admiration for the view above him. When he looked back at the woman. She was smiling knowingly at him. “Natural caves are beautiful, and the mines have their own beauty. But like with anything, you grow used to it, and it eventually loses its novelty. This untouched room is something else. Over here is the planning table. It worked the same as our trailers up above do now.” Erik shifted some of the remaining papers for her, spreading them out for a better view.

“What’s with the bird cage?” Said bird cage was rusted and hanging next to the table. Erik glanced at it before walking around to position himself between the camera and the case of dynamite. 

“Before they had equipment that could read air toxicity, they used canaries and mice as a warning sign. Thankfully, we don’t have to worry about that anymore. We have sensors everywhere, and that giant fan you saw in the main room directs airflow through all the catacombs so that we can keep breathing clean air. It’ll push out the bad and bring in the good.”

“That’s terrifying.” Silverfox didn’t sound that scared, or concerned about the bird, so Erik just shrugged. “What’s in the box behind you.”

Erik turned so the camera could get a clear shot. “Extremely sensitive dynamite. You can see the nitroglycerine crystals forming on the paper, which means that any movement could set it off.”

“So it’s a look, don’t touch deal,” Silverfox said with a small laugh. Erik chuckled and nodded, rubbing his chin in slight embarrassment. “How old do you think this room is? Just taking a guess?”

Daniels had found a makers mark on the back of one of the maps, dating it to the twenties at some point. Anyone in Greymalkin knew the story of the Stryker crew and their fate. Erik was sure that that sort of story would help MuTV with views and decided to run with it. “Back in the early nineteen hundreds, Greymalkin was a booming mining town. It had been said that it would be open forever, but on September fifth, 1919 there was a magnitude six earthquake that trapped a crew. It halted production for months, until finally the excavators said that there couldn’t possibly be any survivors. New teams were assembled and they began production again. They hadn’t found any trace of Stryker’s group, though.”

“Are you saying that this room could be a part of that history?” Silverfox violet eyes were wide in hope. She recognized the opportunity for a large story building.

Erik, for his part, refused to be the face of failure if that weren’t the case. “I can’t say either way. All we know is that those plans are dated around that time, and this is the correct area for them. Unfortunately the landscape has changed so much that we can’t be sure of anything unless we find more stable evidence.” He had given as much information as he was willing to, and gestured back to the the hall. “I’m sure you’re exhausted. First time in the mines can be pretty bad,” he said calmly.

Silverfox started to shake her head before catching a glimpse of Hercules’ sweating face. “Yeah, I’m feeling pretty cooped up. Thanks for the tour.”

“My pleasure.” Erik led the way out after the cameras had been turned off. “Remember to keep breathing,” he reminded, projecting his voice.

“He’ll be fine. We’ve been in worse situations than this.” Silverfox was dismissive of the man as she stumbled forward faster. “So off the record, do you think I should hunt down more information on Stryker’s group?” A gentle hand steadied itself on his shoulder, and Erik turned back to the woman, all charming charisma absent with the lack of a camera.

“Like I said, the timing is right, but we won’t know for sure until the papers have been dated. The college is coming out later today to check. They aren’t nearly as time conscious as reporters.” Erik managed to make it to the exit and strode forward out of the hole. “Cameras are off. How are we doing out here?”

Piotr dropped his pic axe and made his way over to the group. “Dukes and Darwin have not checked in yet. It is still early though.” The Russian held out three water bottles for the visitors before leading Erik off to the side. “Wade sent small message of tremors making their way up the coast. Perhaps we be careful.”

Erik closed his eyes and felt for the tremors himself. They were quite a ways off, and deep. He let go of his hold on the iron-rich earth and looked back at the thickly muscled man. “I’ll keep an eye out. Thanks.” He tipped the bottle towards Piotr in gratitude before taking a deep gulp.

Silverfox strode forward and into Erik’s line of sight. “What was that about tremors? Are we about to get an earthquake?”

“In a few minutes, some dust will fall from the ceiling. It’s nothing to worry about.” Erik spat a mouthful of water out with the bit of grit that he had felt building up from all the talking.

Hercules groaned at the news, but turned on the camera light with a warning that he’d be filming again. Several of the workers slowed down their movements. “Are you saying we’re staying down here when you know that there’s an earthquake coming? Are you all idiots?”

“No, ma’am. We are hard workers that won’t take a break for something as small as an inconvenient tremor.” Logan had come up to the pair in time to stop Erik from saying something worse.

“—win, come— —gan.”

“This is Logan. Are you there, Darwin?” Logan was quick to respond. Several workers in the nearby vicinity stopped to help dampen the noise. Erik and Silverfox moved closer, trying to hear.

“—strange. —smell —nd —— ck now. ‘ver.” Erik and Logan made eye contact for a second before both started walking briskly towards where Darwin and Dukes had been stationed.

“What’s going on? Hercules, this way.” Silverfox followed as quickly as possible in her kitten heels. She couldn’t have really expected an answer from the pair, and she didn’t get one.

The new site was in view, and the unmistakable mass of Dukes was lumbering towards them when Erik felt the shift. “Hit the deck!” His voice echoed down the cavernous hallways and he heard people repeating his warning even as he grabbed Silverfox and pushed her tight against the wall, trusting Logan to have Hercules. Their sensor boxes gave off three quick beats before they heard the rumble.

The earthquake moved through the tunnel quickly, shaking rocks and boulders from their place. Erik ducked his head, breathing heavily while trying to focus on a magnetic shield around him and the reporter. He could feel her heart pounding iron through her bloodstream. He could feel the others nearby as well. No one was unaffected by the phenomenon, even if they were virtually invincible. Silverfox was clutching tight to his flannel, her veneer of bravery failing under uncontrolled danger.

“It’ll be ok.” He had to grind it out. He forced himself to believe it as well. It had to be ok. Thoughts of Charles flashed through his mind, and he knew that he had to make it out safely. He actually let out a chuckle at the knowledge that his husband would never leave the country again under the belief that the earthquake happened because he’d left. Erik wouldn’t mind allowing him to make the impossible fallacy.

The earthquake abated into slight tremors and Erik backed away from the wall, hands worriedly holding the shaking woman up. “Everyone alive?” Logan’s voice echoed down the hall as some debris fell from the ceiling. Several different calls resounded throughout the caves. Erik turned to survey the damage.

A few large boulders had dislodged themselves from the ceiling, but for the most part it was just small rocks. The opening to the new section was covered again, and Erik could already hear Dukes and Darwin digging away behind the area. He trusted them to work fast enough to get oxygen in time. “Are you ok?” His concern for the reporter was second to his concern for the crew, but she was directly before him.

“I think I’m ready to leave now.” Her voice was shaky, and she was curled in on herself. Erik couldn’t see any damage, though. It was likely just fear.

“We’ve got a panic attack over here.” Logan was kneeling down next to Hercules, hand on the larger man’s shoulder as he instructed him to take calming breaths.

“Hercules is claustrophobic. He didn’t want to take this job in the first place, but he’s my best cameraman.” Silverfox was still quiet, and Erik strained to hear her. He could see that she wanted to go to Hercules, and gently guided her to the other man. Logan glanced up and shifted a little to make room for the woman.

“Go check out everyone else. I’ve got these two.” Logan nodded off down the hallway towards the rest of the crew, and Erik took off. He managed to help a few guys out of some rubble before he ran into any serious injuries.

“Jacksy is out, man. We need to get him to the pod.” Erik felt his stomach tighten at the sight of Jacksy’s leg. The man had obviously been hit by some large rock, and his knee looked busted. It wasn’t likely that the man would be back down in the mines after this. Scott and Erik lifted him carefully and made their way towards the oxygen pod. It was closer than the carts, and no one was sure if there was a way out yet. A lot of the dust was still trying to settle, and several men were coughing as they inhaled the dirt.

“Is anyone else hurt?” Erik’s yell was met with groans, but no screams. “Roll call. Who’s missing their buddy?” No one responded, and Erik hoped that was a good thing. “Piotr?”

“Here, friend.”

“Daniels?”

“Present, so is Bishop.”

“Dukes and Darwin were caught in the new area. Anyone still able to, get over there and start helping to dig them out from our side. Logan is with the reporters.” Erik turned to Scott, who was already starting to move down the path Erik had come from. “No, stay with Jacksy. Make sure he’s not alone when he wakes up. Radio Wade, too. I want to know what’s happening up there.”

“What are you going to do?” The young man looked at Erik, eyes barely visible behind his ruby glasses.

“I’m going to go check the exit. We’re going to try and get out of here as soon as we can. Listen, you hear that?” Erik watched the boy cock his head to the side before giving a negative shake. “Exactly. The fan’s been crushed. That means we don’t have a filter system. If Dukes and Darwin opened a gas pocket, we won’t have any fresh air filtering through.” He could see Summer’s face slackening in understanding. “Stick with Jacksy. I’ll be back soon.” He clapped the man on the shoulder before heading off to the cart.

It wasn’t too full of rocks, and Erik managed to dump it before pushing it back onto the track and pressing the motor that would get him back up topside. He hit a snag almost immediately. The machine had been smashed by a boulder, and no amount of tinkering would get it working again. Erik grumbled as he attached his powers to the track and pulled himself forward. It would be draining to get everyone out, but at least they’d survive.

The second snag came about half a mile up. The track was blocked by more boulders, and Erik couldn’t see an exit. He changed the dial on his radio and could hear Wade yelling in his ear. “Will someone please fucking answer me. Is anyone alive? Holy shit, guys!”

“Wade, calm down. We’re fine. Jacksy hurt his leg, but we’re all alive.”

“Fuck chickens in the butt, Lehnsherr! I’ve been yelling to Cthulhu for the past ten minutes waiting for an answer. Where the hell is Howlett?”

Erik closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. “He’s with the reporters. They’re pretty shaken up. Do you have a team working on clearing us out? We’ve been blocked.”

“No shit, Sherlock. The entire entrance is gone. Shaw is having an aneurysm, and the remaining reporters are having a field day. How far from the surface are you?”

“I’m two miles underground. The fan is lost, too.” Erik waited for a response, trusting Wade to do the math. Sweat trickled down his neck as the severity of the situation fell on him. It was only noon. The sun would be shining outside now, and he should be on lunch break. He’d told David and Magneto that he’d be back to feed them. Charles would be pissed if he found their precious babies were deprived a meal.

“Ok, well, Colossus and Darwin don’t need oxygen, right? So keep them out of the pod and working on clearing away what they can from down there. Everyone else needs to get to the cell now, though. Darwin’s toxicity monitor was going haywire just before the shaker.”

“We’re out of clear range once I go back down there.” The reminder was disheartening. Not being able to hear what was going on above him made Erik nervous.

“Get back down there, man. We’ll have you cleared out faster than chimichangas dunked in hot sauce.” Erik grimaced and pushed the cart away from the wall of stone. “Faster than a monk in a brothel. Than a geek at comiccon. Than Paul Reubans in a movie theater.”

Erik shuttled himself down to base as fast as he could to get away from Wade’s jokes. His relief at the silence didn’t last long, though. As soon as the cart came to a stop, Erik was out and heading towards the Duke’s and Darwin’s zone. “Everyone stop. Head to the pod immediately.” The crew working away at the fallen stone turned to Erik with wide eyes. He knew he looked foreboding. “Don’t stare at me. Go! Howlett, you stay and keep digging Dukes and Darwin out.” He neared the man, eyeing the camera as he passed it, hoping that their microphone wasn’t sensitive. “Wilson said the carbon monoxide sensors were going off just before the cave in. I’m taking everyone else back to the pod. Once you’re done here, head up to the exit and start clearing that with Piotr and Darwin. I don’t know how bad it is, but we need to start working on getting out of here.”

“What, you don’t want to resort to plan Bee Gees?” Logan’s grin was feral. Erik’s grimace was equally noticeable.

“What’s plan Bee Gees?” Kayla asked as Erik started leading them back towards the main area. Erik wasn’t sure how much worse the day could get. He could only hope the TNT hadn’t been disturbed.

“You know the song Staying Alive?” Kayla rolled her eyes and nodded. “Well Howlett there regenerates fast.” Erik let the woman figure out his meaning as he opened the door to the pod. “How is Jacksy?”

“Still out, man. High as a kite on that morphine in the first aid kit. Why were you banging on the door?” Daniels shifted on the seat to let Erik look the non-powered miner over, checking him for more wounds.

“We weren’t.” Kayla shifted aside and silence fell over the pod as Hercules stepped forward to get a clear shot of the downed worker. “You’re going to have to turn that off now. It just makes the men jumpy.” Erik considered messing with the equipment. He wasn’t above doing so in such tight situations. Thankfully, the larger man seemed to understand the severity of the situation and did as requested. “What do you mean banging?”

“I mean super loud banging. We were all waiting for you guys to just enter, but you didn’t. No one saw anyone outside the windows.” Scott nodded in agreement to what Daniels was saying. “You saying that really wasn’t you?”

“It really wasn’t us. Colossus, I need you to head up towards the entrance and start clearing a path. Howlett will join you after he gets Darwin and Dukes out of their hell hole.” Piotr nodded and walked out.

Kayla watched the men fall into a tense silence as Erik went through the small cupboards in the white room. “So you’re the leader down here?” Even though her question was aimed at Erik, he wasn’t the one that answered.

“Howlett is the foreman. Other than that, there aren’t any leaders.” Bishop chose a piece of jerky out of the bag. “Lehnsherr is good at what he does, though.” Kayla nodded and gave Erik an assessing look. Bishop left her to consider the information so he could pass out the snack.

Erik focused on his fallen coworker. Jacksy’s pant leg had been cut off and one of the men had tried to set the limb. Erik looked at the discolored and swelling leg with a sympathetic frown. Scott looked pale next to him, and someone had handed the boy a bright red blanket. “You did good, kid.” Erik patted Scott on the shoulder as he stood, unsure if the reassurance would help at all. He felt like it was inadequate, but Scott had responded positively with a small smile.

Bishop had just been offering food to Kayla when loud pounding shook the room. Several of the men shouted in surprise, and Erik had trouble getting to one of the small windows to inspect the noise. “Y’see? No one’s out there!” Daniels was trying to point out that his earlier comment had been true, but had trouble understanding that he was in the way of Erik’s view.

The banging was a continuous jarring sound for ten seconds before ringing silence took over. Several of the men tried cracking their jaws, as though they were on a plane. “What was that?” Kayla demanded, heading towards the door.

“Don’t open it!”  
“Yo! What’re you thinking?”  
“Get away!”

Erik was the only one that moved to stop her from opening the hatch. His hand gripped her small wrist firmly as he shook his head. “You weren’t given all the waivers we were. If something happens to you out there, it’s on our heads. You have to stay safe.”

“I’ll be fine. Let me go,” she insisted. Her violet eyes met Erik’s in a challenge, and Erik released her before blinking hard. “So are you going to go out there, then?”

Erik stared at the woman for a few seconds before shoving her aside and getting a canteen of water from a closet. “If I _am_ going out there, I’m going to take a few minutes to prepare. No point doing it if I die on the first step. Someone get me a filter”

“What does that even mean? Is that some macho bullshit?” The reporter had her hands on her hips in unamused skepticism.

“Listen, lady: no one wanted you down here in the first place. If you weren’t down here, we wouldn’t be bothering with this investigative bullcrap. Lehnsherr knows that if _he_ doesn’t go out there, then you will, and that’s not an option. So give him whatever time he needs to get ready.” Spyke had taken an intimidating step forward, one piece of exoskeleton extending up his forearm.

Erik appreciated the support he felt from the other men as he dawdled on exiting the pod. All men in the mines were superstitious to a certain degree. While Erik typically applied science to his reasoning, being trapped three miles below sunlight did tend to alter one’s perspectives. He took a sip of water from the canteen he’d grabbed before considering how pissed he was at the woman. Charles would call the display childish, but he also wasn’t the one being pushed into uncomfortable circumstances. With that in mind, Erik stepped forward to the public urinal and made use of it. He didn’t have to be a telepath to feel the amusement from the men around him as he heard the woman scoff in disgust.

“The Professor isn’t going to be happy about this,” Bishop warned as he handed Erik a gas mask.

“He wouldn’t be happy about this situation in general. I think he’ll forgive me for this.” Erik smirked at the large man before fixing the mask securely to his head.

“Who’s the professor?” Kayla had stepped forward into Erik’s personal space again as he buckled the mask on.

Erik pushed past the woman and towards the door, ignoring her question for the moment. “Be careful out there, Lehnsherr. We’re lucky the generator didn’t bust with that quake.” Bishop clapped Erik on the shoulder before going to the hatch wheel. Erik nodded and accepted the bone spike Daniels had offered him, as well as the flashlight. His hardhat was back on his head, and the light turned on, but Erik wanted to be sure he wouldn’t be left in the dark.

“One thing before I go.” Erik turned back to Kayla and leaned in close. “You try that mind-control crap on any of these men, and I will make sure your company knows how you abuse your powers. Am I understood?”

The woman’s eyes were wide as she stared at him through the dusty glass. Erik waited until she nodded before leaving the safety and light of the capsule.

Outside the white space, the cavern was black with dim lighting. Displaced soot was still clogging the air, and Erik kicked quite a few rocks on his way through the area. There were no signs of people in the space, and he could hear Logan down at the new site. Piotr would be too far away to hear, and he wouldn’t have been banging on anything.

A whispered breeze floated past Erik, tickling the hair on the back of his neck. He twisted, looking for the source, unable to hear anything except his own muffled breaths. A displaced rock tapped over pressed dirt, and Erik swung his handheld flashlight towards the noise. It had come in the direction of the new hall, and Erik felt the hair on his arms raise. Telling himself it was stupid superstition, he straightened his back and made his way over to investigate. His flashlight scanned the ground before him, its beam doing little to light up the large work area. The shadows had him jumpy, and he had to remind himself to remain calm. It had been years since the mines had felt like anything besides the office to him. It was just the earthquake that had him jumping at tremors that continued to vibrate the space. There was no way a wind was being drawn up with the fan out of service. There couldn’t be airflow this far down.

But there was, and it was brushing the hairs on the back of Erik’s neck, cooling the sweat, and moving the humidity aside.

The entrance of the hall was before him, and Erik hesitated to enter. The narrow space may have tightened in the earthquake, and Erik couldn’t be sure it’d be safe to walk down.

Another breeze.

Erik turned fast, holding the spike above his head as he yelled. The boy behind him yelled back and fell to the ground hard, landing on his butt. “Jesus man, I came to help!”

“Scott! What the fuck are you doing here?” Erik pocketed his flashlight and held a hand down to help the boy up.

“We heard you calling and I got the short straw. Why are you over here?”

“I didn’t call.” Erik looked the boy over, checking to make sure his mask was on correctly.

“You were telling us to get out here. That there was something we needed to see.” Scott looked around, head lamp beam bouncing off wet walls. “I thought you’d be at the fan. What’s down here?”

Erik frowned and looked down the hallway. Something in his gut twisted. “I don’t know. You should go back to the pod. Tell the crew not to come out for anything. Not even me calling you. If I can’t open the door, then don’t do it for me.”

“That seems a little harsh. What if you’re hurt, like Jacksy? I’m not gonna leave you out here alone.” The boy was stubborn, and Erik could see the set of his face even behind the obscuring mask.

If he could, Erik would have rubbed the bridge of his nose to ease the headache the kid was causing. “I didn’t call you, Summers. I don’t know what you heard, but it wasn’t me. Now, I want you to go back to the pod and tell everyone—“ A strong wind from the hall cut Erik off. Both men turned and looked down the passage.

“Maybe the earthquake made a way out?” Scott took an unsure step towards the hall.

“Only one way to make sure.” Erik hoped he was right as he shouldered his way in front of Scott and down the hall.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Asterisk (*) is a hover over

Charles played with his wedding band as he listened to the speaker. Erik had catered to his husband’s fidgeting tendencies, and made the gold accessory a spinner. After wearing it for so long, it had become a strong comfort for the telepath. Especially when he was uneasy.

Moira had picked up on Charles’ agitation and had done her best to alleviate it. Not the easiest task when sitting right in front of the podium next to a power-handicapped telepath, but she managed to sneak a few doodles to her friend. The speaker had finally finished presenting the newly discovered function of transposons in eukaryotic cells and was accepting questions. It had been a lecture that Charles been particularly excited for, but something had been off the entire day. He couldn’t handle the crowds any longer, and made for the exit.

The conference was across town from their hotel, and Charles didn’t particularly want to go back yet. It was six pm back home, and Erik would likely be out with the boys eating dinner. That didn’t mean he couldn’t send an email, though. Finding a wifi hotspot in Amsterdam was no challenge. Charles didn’t even worry about the security of his email, since Erik was the only person in his personal contacts list. The inbox was empty of a reply, which wasn’t surprising. The library wouldn’t open until after Erik was at work, and if he stopped for dinner afterwards, it would be closed by the time he got around to heading over there. The only other option would be to stay on sight and use the company computer, which he had done before. But apparently not today.

Charles didn’t bother scrolling through his unopened messages yet. He just wanted to make sure Erik knew he was missed.

>   
>  _Hello Darling,_
> 
> > _I hope your day has been better than mine. I overslept my alarm and Moira had to pound on the door to wake me up. Apparently jet-lag and drinking don’t make good bed partners. I don’t remember it being quite so much of an issue a few years ago. Regardless, I had very little time to prepare for the morning lectures._
> 
> > _I’ve had the strangest feelings all day, as well. It’s been like a whisper at the back of my mind, asking for me to pay attention. I don’t think it’s another telepath. It feels different. But I can’t quite place who or what it is. I wish you were here. You’d help me stop worrying about it._
> 
> > _Tell me all about your day. I want to hear about anything exciting that happened. How were the college representatives? Did you give them a nice tour of that new site you discovered? I can’t wait for you to take me on a tour of it. Focus really hard on that dynamite. I’d can’t believe you got to see nitroglycerine crystals at work! It’s terribly frightening, but now I get to brag about my husband working with unstable chemicals. One fellow literally turned green with envy._
> 
> > _All my love,_  
>  > _Charles_  
> 

Email finished and sent, Charles opened up his work email and clicked through some faculty forwards just to keep up on happenings before closing the laptop and putting it in his pack. He still had a few hours until the conference was over for the day, and he really should be getting back to mingling. That had been part of the reason the school board had allowed him and Moira to make the trip. They needed funding, and grant support was most likely to come from the people he could meet in the lobby. Not that that was where networking truly happened. With the exception of last night, Charles was usually very good at networking in social settings involving alcohol. Thankfully, the man from the previous night hadn’t been connected to the convention.

“Bonjour, my deepest ocean. And how did you find this morning’s lecture?” Remy LeBeau sidled up to Charles and kissed him on both cheeks, sending him a winning smile when he stood back up.

Charles grinned back and shook his head. “Your charm is showing. Aren’t you supposed to be wearing a blocker when we’re networking?”

The man before him shrugged and played with the placket of his brown leather jacket. “What baselines don’t know about my tricks is only good for my grant account’s pocket. One positive of not counting as a psionic.” A playing card flicked up in the man’s hands and glowed an explosive red. Charles knew Remy wouldn’t actually hurt him, but he’d seen the man in action, and had gained a strong respect for his abilities.

“You’re working the system, Remy. You know how I feel about that.” Charles leveled an unamused look at his friend.

The man held up his hands, card magically gone to some hidden pocket Charles didn’t care to examine too deeply. “Don’t worry, mon cherie. The government and I are on good terms for once.” His sly grin suggested that one of the two weren’t fully informed of the relationship, but Charles wasn’t about to argue. He liked Remy, and any illegal activities that were committed were never harmful. Erik actually liked the man, which was rare for Charles’ friends. It may have had a little to do with their shared dislike of authority figures, which was rather unfortunate. It definitely wasn’t because Remy had tried to charm both men into bed with him when he first happened upon them at a conference in his home town of New Orleans back in the early days of Charles’ first doctorate.

“What are you doing over here? I thought you were busy setting up your lab at the U.” Charles sat back in his chair, prepared to give his friend his full attention.

Remy grinned and leaned heavily on his back foot as he looked around at the ceiling. He had a habit of being aware of his surroundings. Charles had never really understood it, though he assumed it was due to the less desirable aspects of the man’s life prior to academia. “Well I am, but it seems that my lab is missing quite a bit of funding for the students. They can’t go without, you see?”

“Of course not,” Charles agreed with a sage nod. He knew how much money the Cajun had whittled off of investors at his last conference, and was slightly jealous of what could have been done with the funds.

“Any way. I was planning on going out to the red-light district this evening. Care to join me? We could pick up a little mô shou and enjoy their delights for a little while.”

Charles grinned and shook his head. The last time he’d gone out with Remy LeBeau had ended with Charles waking up in his hotel room covered in frosting and kittens. He had been pretty sure they had been in a strip club before that. The bill for that stay had thankfully been shunted off to his friend. “I will go down with you, but I don’t plan on partaking this trip. I just want to do some shopping.”

“Ah, Remy sees. You and your boh are becoming bored. Want to spice it up. I’m sure some tricks could be learned.” He had, considerately, moved in closer to Charles when he’d brought the topic up. Not that it kept people from guessing.

At least, it didn’t keep Kitty Pryde from guessing. “Honestly, men. I was expecting better from you, Professor.” The young woman had a playful grin even with her scolding words. “How are you?”

Charles smiled back and held out his arm for a hug from one of his former TAs. “Kitty, I’ve told you time and again in several different emails. You should call me Charles. Especially now. You’re a professor yourself.” The woman blushed and fidgeted uncomfortably.

“That doesn’t really matter, much. It’s just an associate job.”

Charles tilted his head to give her a considering look. He knew where she worked, but couldn’t remember any specifics at the moment. Regardless, “and I’m just a professor at a small community college. We are on even footing now, Miss Pryde. Please try to remember that.”

Remy watched the woman with open amusement. It was unfortunate that he was so alluring when openly interested. Or uninterested. Or bored. Regardless, Kitty had noticed the attention as well, and subtly preened under it. Even if her attention was seemingly focused on Charles. “You expect me to call you Charles when your tone is patronizing?” She still wore a teasing grin to match her indignant eyebrow.

“Don’t be fooled. Charles is condescending to everyone,” Moira joked as she came upon the group. “Moira MacTaggert.” Ever the professional, Moira wasted no time in introducing herself with a firm handshake.

“Moira, this is a former TA of mine from Oxford, Kitty Pryde. Kitty, Moira is one of my coworkers and a dear friend.” Charles was suddenly thankful for all the etiquette lessons drilled into him by his mother from a young age. He hadn’t missed a beat in the introduction, besides the one Moira had outright driven over. He also made an executive decision that it would be inappropriate to introduce her to Remy.

“It’s a pleasure, Miss Pryde. You wrote that article about time travel theory, didn’t you?”

Kitty’s smile grew at the recognition, and Charles didn’t worry about group-host duties as the two women went off on their own discussion. He instead turned back to Remy, who was watching the women with considering red eyes. “What time were you planning to go downtown?” Charles asked, interrupting his friend’s reverie.

Remy’s eyes flicked over to Charles before he relaxed his pose back into one of casual grace. “I was considering around midnight. That’s not past your bedtime now, is it?” Charles rolled his eyes at the man and agreed to meet him at a local restaurant they had both been considering eating at. One positive aspect of going out with Remy was that the man insisted on paying for absolutely everything. While normally, Charles wouldn’t have ever considered accepting such offers, Remy was a completely different case. When Remy paid, Charles made certain to spot him for one round of cards at a casino. It was incredibly dangerous, but they had never been caught, and the payout was worth it. His quarter of one of the profits had been how Charles had afforded his wedding. Without that risk, Erik would never have had the rented Chuppah for their night ceremony. Of course, it had been completely worth it when he’d seen the gratitude and wonder shining in Erik’s eyes.

With that in mind, Charles didn’t really mind that Remy bought him a rather expensive meal paired with wine. He’d pay the man back this evening somehow.

* * *

The red light district was surprisingly beautiful, though slightly bumpy. And the flashing LED lights of the shops made it difficult not to run into people. Several of the women in their glass cases were quite alluring, and Charles was entranced by one *phenomutant whose skin shimmered like lake water reflecting sunlight. Her movements had been just as liquid, and Remy had commented on the obvious interest Charles portrayed. Charles just shook his head and continued on, though he did try to get another look at her before he entered the toy shop they found next door. He’d blushed when she caught him craning back to look at her, and Remy had thrown his head back to laugh as he held the door wide.

The store was well lit, and the few aisles were spacious enough for Charles not to feel like he was going to knock any displays over, which was comforting. There were quite a few different condom displays erected, and he had to make sure not to get too close to the precarious towers. Remy followed along behind him, innocuously taking items off shelves to look at them more closely. One employee came up to ask after their goal, and had just looked expectantly at them when the men stated they weren’t together.

After going through the aisles twice, Remy broke off with his own basket full of condoms and a small array of lubricants. Charles could feel himself getting weary of the seemingly futile exercise, and the odd whisper he’d been hearing all day in the back of his head had been steadily growing with his exhaustion. In the end, he bought a very nice pair of cuffs with absolutely no metal on them that Charles believed he would enjoy teasing Erik with.

The next stop was back at the strip club with the phenomutant in the window. The woman had disappeared, but it seemed that the establishment specialized in that particular attraction.

Remy and Charles got a booth off to the side of one stage and Remy went off to buy drinks. Charles had just finished adjusted his legs on the leather bench when the woman from earlier sauntered up to him. “I saw you watching me. You want a private room?” Her voice carried low in the pulsing noise of the music surrounding them. It rippled, and Charles wondered what would happen if she actually made contact with water. He was curious if she’d just disperse all together, or if she’d be so camouflaged that no one would be able to find her.

“I was watching, yes. Your mutation is rather entrancing.” Charles leaned back as the woman straddled his lap on the bench, trapping his head with her arms. He felt his breath stutter out of him as her shimmering breasts reflected low red and purple lights back onto his face.

“English. Have a closer look, *engeltje.” A gesture Charles would have appreciated more if he hadn’t had such an odd day. Or if he had gotten a response back from Erik.

The woman must have recently started her shift, or she was blessed with a secondary mutation that allowed her to always smell of fresh streams. Charles managed to keep his hands firmly at his sides, though his fingers brushed her knees every so often when her undulating hips shifted them. “You’re very lovely. And your mutation is remarkable, but I’m not here for this tonight,” he finally managed to get out. His eyes met hers, and he blinked in surprise. Her eyes were an opalescent white, contrasting with her body which reminded him of water.

The woman smiled and lowered herself until her ass was nearly sitting on his lap, making eye contact much easier. “You may not have come for it, but I can see that you need it.” Charles swallowed the lump in his throat at her alluring tone. His lids dipped heavily as he felt her fingers playing with the short hair at the back of his head, fingers tickling at that one spot his telepathy latched on to, even inhibited.

Her mind was a placid lake with hidden trenches. Her problems were deep, and she wasn’t concerned with them at the moment. She was healthy. Her daughter was safely tucked away in bed with her grandmother. Charles was handsome and she wouldn’t mind his strong arms wrapping around her thighs to hold her tight to him. She had serviced paraplegics before, and she wondered if he was one that enjoyed their partner’s pleasure as a way to get off. It didn’t particularly matter that he had a wedding ring. He was here after all. And he spoke Dutch, which made him more than some rude foreigner in her book. Again, an unimportant fact. Maybe his handsome friend wouldn’t mind a threeway. Those always cost more than the typical 50€ and could be incredibly fun.

Charles gasped and jerked his head back, forcing himself out of her mind. “While I appreciate what you’re offering, I’m really not interested. Thank you, though.” Charles looked over and saw an ever-amused Remy leaning against the booth opposite him with two drinks in his hands.

“Don’t stop on my account, cherie. You got your conquest for the night.” His grin showed his approval as his eyes raked over her toned body. The frills of her thong only accented her well rounded ass, and Remy took his time appreciating the view. “You know your handsome husband wouldn’t mind you enjoying yourself.”

The woman grinned back, limber body twisting to view the newcomer. “And would his handsome husband mind if you joined us?”

Remy’s grin widened as he came up behind her, pressing his torso to her back until her head leaned into the crook of his neck. Remy’s red gaze fell on Charles, black specks around the pupil mesmerizing in the flashing lights. “Well, Professor? Would he mind?”

Charles closed his eyes to center himself. Erik wouldn’t mind. Would actually encourage this behavior and actively join in if he were here. He had told Charles to have a good time. But there was still that nagging feeling niggling at his mind. “I don’t think I’ll be any good tonight. Go, enjoy yourselves.” He opened his eyes to the pout given by both mutants before him, and gave a wave of assurance to his friend.

“Will you be wanting any help back to the hotel?” Remy’s hands were firmly planted on the woman’s hips now as she ground her ass back.

Charles grinned and raised a brow at the ridiculous offer. “I believe I’ll finish my drink first.” He took the drink from the table Remy had set it on and took a sip. The bitter taste of tonic and pine ran over his tongue and coated his throat. The woman on his lap gave one final pout before swinging off and sauntering away with Remy on her heels. Charles watched the pair for a few more seconds before rubbing his forehead.

The thumping music of the club was louder than anything Charles had heard in a while. It was a testament to his quiet life that he would rather go back to the hotel than stay and observe all the fascinating mutants around him.

He finished his drink and went out to the deafeningly silent streets. Couples passed, giggling at the sights. He had to wait for a few cabs to pass by him before one actually noticed his raised hand. His shopping bags and wheelchair went into the trunk, and Charles could only hope the crunching he heard was only his items being displaced.

The headache he’d been nursing all day flared as he was transferring back to his chair. The spot he most closely associated with his telepathy was throbbing. As soon as he was solidly back in his chair, he fumbled at his suppressor bracelet.

There wasn’t even a chance to acknowledge that he’d made a mistake before his mind was drowning in voices from all over the city. His low level telepathy had never picked up so many voices. It was overwhelming. Charles screamed as he raised his hands to his head, dropping the inhibitor to the ground as he tried to erect walls he had never needed before. He didn’t know how long he’d been trying to block the voices before he blacked out, but when he regained consciousness, he was in his bed with the Trask Blocker firmly placed back on his wrist.

“Charles! Are you alright?” Moira’s voice was loud in the silence of the hospital room.

Charles groaned and lifted a hand up to his forehead, flinching at the pain running through his mind. “What happened?” He finally managed. He was well acquainted with hospitals. What he couldn’t understand was why he was currently in one.

“I don’t know. I got a call from the hospital saying you’d been admitted after screaming and passing out last night outside the hotel. Do you remember anything?” Moira’s eyes were wide with concern, and Charles could feel it lapping up against his telepathy. That wasn’t right, though. He could see the suppressor on his wrist. He shouldn’t be able to pick up anything except under the most specific of circumstances. None of which were being met at the moment.

Charles frowned and pointed down to the end of the bed where his chart lay. Moira snorted and grabbed it for him. He could see why she was amused. The entire sheet was in Dutch. While he could understand what people said, and reply to a certain extent, his ability to comprehend what he read was abysmal. He had to acknowledge that his telepathy gave him a slight edge in regards to intent when interacting with people who used a foreign language.

One thing that caught his eye though, was the brain scan they’d taken. It was a common enough procedure for telepaths. His normal spikes never went higher than five electrowaves. Looking at the chart in his hands, now, though. He closed his eyes hard, trying to reset his vision. It must be wrong. Looking again didn’t assure him, though. “Moira, be a dear and read off that lovely little telepath chart for me.” He shoved the clipboard over to his friend while rubbing his eyes.

Moira’s silence made Charles finally look at her. “Just tell me the x-axis height.”

“Three hundred. Why? What does that mean?” She placed the chart back at the base of the bed just as a nurse entered to check his vitals.

Charles watched the man taking his pulse, staying silent for the duration. It gave him time to think and process the answer he was about to give. “It means that I am significantly stronger.” He swallowed around the growing lump in his throat, his heart rate building steadily with his fear. “I think I’d quite like to go home, now.” He looked over at Moira, completely aware of how terrified he looked. The pity came off her in waves as the nurse beside him thought about how far away home must be for the poor patient.


	5. Chapter 5

The dynamite had made it through the earthquake, much to Erik’s surprise. That was coupled with the shock of a newly exposed tunnel leading away from the rest of their site. He and Scott had returned to the safety pod to tell everyone about their find, and were now getting antsy again. There hadn’t been any unexplained noises since they’d gotten back. Dukes had managed to make it to the capsule and was now resting with an oxygen mask planted firmly over his mouth and nose.

Logan sat next to Erik on a bunk as they waited for Darwin and Piotr to clear the passage. Silverfox and Hercules were off in the back corner, watching the miners closely. Their self-imposed isolation was making the rest of the men nervous, and Erik didn’t appreciate that.

“You should drink some water,” he finally stated, tossing a canteen over to the pair.

Hercules caught it and took a long pull before offering it to his partner. Silverfox shook her head and hugged her knees tighter to her chest. “Are we really just going to sit around and wait to be rescued? Can’t we help clear the passage?” Her tone was biting, and Erik could almost feel the blood rising in the other men at the suggestion that they were useless.

Logan seemed to smell the rising hostility as he turned to face the pair. “There is limited oxygen inside this capsule. The quality of air outside of it is an unknown factor. If you want to risk your life by chucking stones for two miles, be my guest. But don’t you ever imply that my men aren’t making the right choice by staying alive. We’ve all got families that we care for. We all want to make it home safe.” His eyes flicked over to Jacksy, still lying unconscious on the bed.

Hercules murmured something to his partner, and it seemed to calm her down a little. The beast of a man was obviously uncomfortable in the confined space, but he seemed to have a clear head on him in tight situations. Erik went back to staring at his hands, hoping that they’d be out soon. It was past supper time. He should have fed David and Magneto by now. He should have tried to email Charles. Fixed the damn floorboard that liked to warp up in the winter. Cleared out the bathtub drain of Charles’ hair. There were so many things he could have been doing that didn’t include sitting around miles below the surface after his shift was done.

The skittering of something running over the metal roof of the pod had everyone tensing. It hadn’t been the soft sound of pebbles raining down, but the scrape and scramble of dexterous appendages, which put Erik on edge. He hadn’t felt the change in temperature of the metal, even when he’d been trying his hardest to focus. There hadn’t been the firm warmth of a mammalian body making its way over their roof.

“What was that?” Silverfox asked, gazing out the window next to her head. Erik and Logan turned to face the window behind the forman, hoping to see something.

“It’s at times like this that I’m happy Wade is up top,” Logan murmured. A few of the men huffed out laughs of agreement. No one needed the antisocial bastard messing with their minds.

Erik felt the tension rising with the prolonged silence, and eventually stood up. Daniels immediately rose out of the center aisle and pushed himself against the wall. Bishop glanced over at the group from his spot as sentry. “Nothing came by this way.” The man had obviously tried for quiet, but his voice resonated through the small area. Erik clapped him on the shoulder and grabbed the mask from the hook near the door.

“I need to stretch my legs. I’ll go up and see how Darwin and Piotr are doing.”

“I’ll come with you,” Silverfox called, scrambling to her feet. She looked back at Hercules who shook his head and shifted over to take Erik’s seat.

Erik had to try and keep his sigh of frustration back as the woman came up along side him. He was done babying her. She had heard it was dangerous several times over. At this point, he would be willing to fudge the report if she happened to die while under his watch. An image of Charles flashed through his mind, obviously unamused with his husband’s sense of humor. Erik wasn’t entirely certain he was joking.

Erik took up his flashlight and opened the door. Silverfox followed him out and helped secure it before turning and following him back to the metal cart. Darwin and Piotr had been forced to walk up, but Erik wasn’t about to do that. He handed the reporter into the wagon and stepped in behind her. The velocity rocked her back against him as he pulled them smoothly upwards. Erik was sweating by the time they got high enough up to hear thudding rocks.

“Lehnsherr, how is the crew doing?” Darwin was obviously exhausted, sitting on a pile of rocks with his head between his knees. Piotr stopped pulling at a particularly large boulder and turned to face the newcomers.

“Getting anxious. Have you heard from up top recently?” He glanced over at the radio receiver placed off to the side.

Piotr strode over and stood before the pair, arms crossed. “Wade said mayor not inform media. Keeping hush-hush. He tell families, but can’t call Professor.”

Erik sighed and rubbed a hand over the gas mask. “No, no he wouldn’t be able to. Charles is in Amsterdam for the week. Thankfully. When Wade calls back, tell him to go take care of David and Magneto. They need to get fed. And also tell him to stop trying to tell Charles. He doesn’t need to worry about this.”

Piotr nodded and leaned against the metal cart. “How are you doing?” His voice was soft as it was directed at the obviously shocked woman. Silverfox had been staring at their exit the entire conversation, as though unable to come to terms with the fact that their way out was blocked.

“She’s going to be fine. Have you heard or seen anything strange up here?”

“No?” Darwin looked back down the hall. “Why? What’s going on down there?”

Erik shook his head and wished he hadn’t brought it up. “We’ve been hearing weird noises. Must just be some rats whose nests came through with the quake.” The miners exchanged glances, knowing the improbability of that. Thankfully the reporter seemed oblivious at the moment.

“Listen, Erik, we’ve been at this for a while. Mind if we come down for a break?” Darwin was looking at the cart longingly, and Erik couldn’t blame him. It was only because of the situation that the men were working so hard. They should have had several breaks by now, not even considering that it was past hours.

“Hop in, I’ll give you guys a ride.” He pulled Silverfox closer to him, arm securely around her waist as the two miners climbed in carefully in front of her. Erik ignored the way she shifted more firmly against him, focusing on keeping the cart on the tracks with the added weight.

The group got out, with Piotr helping lift the reporter carefully from the cart, and made their way back to the pod.

The scene inside was completely unexpected. Erik and Silverfox looked at the men carefully as they secured the door behind them.

Everyone they had left behind was pressed tight at the far end of the pod, and Spyke had his skeleton namesakes out in defense. Piotr and Darwin had their hands up in peace, and weren’t moving a muscle.

“Everyone, calm down.” Erik slowly removed his mask, scowling at the cries from the other miners. Scott finally removed his hand from the trigger button on his visor, and the entire room seemed to relax. It was then that Erik noticed the black marks of laser blasts on the wall beside him, and one spike was imbedded into the doorframe next to his ear. “What happened?” He was nearly snarling at the destruction of the capsule.

“Man, Howlett left a few minutes after you, ‘cause he said there was some smell or some shit, and when he came back he wasn’t him!” Daniels retracted the bones from his arms and shoulders before stepping forward to greet Darwin.

“What do you mean? What happened?” Silverfox looked at Hercules for her answers. The man’s eyes were wide in fear, and his blond hair was dark with sweat.

“Kayla, I am through after this. I don’t care what you try to say. I am done. There is some weird shit going on in this cave.”

Erik let out a frustrated breath and pushed past Piotr, who was back in his human form. “What was wrong with Howlett?” He made eye-contact with each person, trying to get them to answer.

It was Dukes who finally managed it. “We’re not sure. He came in yelling at us to get back to work. He didn’t seem like himself, though. I mean, yeah, he’s always been a hardass, and the military-vibe has always been there, but this time was worse. He threw out his claws and started threatening us with pain if we didn’t do what he said. Even included some slurrs. Finally, Hercules strong-armed him out the door and locked him on the other side. You didn’t see him?” The man’s speech was slow, and rumbled in the small space. Erik frowned as he tried to fully understand what Dukes meant.

“No one’s gone out to look for him?” Erik already knew they wouldn’t have. The men were scared out of their minds. If they were horses, he’d be able to see white all around their eyes. He couldn’t ask them to go out with him. He also didn’t relish the thought of going out there alone. Looking around at the scared group, his gaze landed on Daniels.

The boy immediately started shaking his head. “Oh hell no. I ain’t going out there to get my ass knifed off by our crazed super. You can count me out.”

Erik grabbed the free mask from Silverfox’s limp grasp and shoved it at the young man. “I won’t let you get chopped up. Think. Logan’s claws are metal. What do I control?” Daniels’ eyes were wide, and Erik could feel the blood coursing through the compact body.

“Metal?” The word came out as whimpered question.

Erik forced himself to relax, thinking of how Charles would get when he was exposed to particularly violent people. Interacting with Evan like that now would prove the better course. “That’s right. Metal. I’ll be able to sense Howlett before he even gets close to you.”

“But, Bishop would be helpful.” The larger black man shifted forward, but Erik shook his head.

“Bishop is in charge when I’m not around.”

“Dukes? He’s strong, man. Like a fucking —whatever.”

Erik grinned and shook his head again. “He’s too big. He wouldn’t be able to help me if Howlett went down the new hall. And Scott wouldn’t be able to use his visor in the gas mask. Piotr and Darwin need breaks. Hercules and Silverfox aren’t miners. Am I missing anyone? Oh, yes. Jacksy.” A few of the men chuckled.

“I don’t wanna do this, man.” Daniels grabbed the strap of the mask and fit it to his face. “You owe me at least two beers once we’re out of here.” Erik laughed and ran a hand through the boy’s bleached hair.

“I’ll get everyone two rounds once we’re out of here.” Cheering sounded as Erik led Daniels out of the pod.

The cave was eerily silent as the lock went back into place. Erik stretched out his powers as far as he could, senses shaky from exhaustion. He should have had more water before coming back out.

“The professor is gonna kill you if you get sick down here.” Daniels comment was eerily in sync with Erik’s thoughts. “Why can’t we just wait for the excavation crew to get down here and save us?”

“Howlett is one of us. You really want him out here alone? He might not be able to stay dead, but that doesn’t mean he can’t die.” Erik kept his senses wide open as they made their way back to the hall. Erik was beginning to hate that space.

Scraping through the hall with only their head lamps on was eerie. Erik had done it several times already, and none of those times had been as uncomfortable as this one. He tried to reason that the silence of the dead fan was finally getting to him. It was all in combination with the heavy beat of Evan’s heart, the aftershocks of the earthquake still deep in the earth, and the extended claws of his supervisor in the room beyond.

“About time you lazy sonsofbitches got out of bed. Come move these sticks to the hole. We have to have this space cleared by Monday.”

Erik could barely see Logan in the dimness of the room. His short form was hunched over the desk and he was chomping away at the unlit cigar he always kept on him for break. Erik motioned for Evan to stay back a few steps as he made his own way into the space. “Logan, are you feeling alright?” He could see what the others meant by their supervisor not seeming himself. His normally wild hair was slicked down flat to his head with a sharp part off to the side. He also appeared to have shaved at some point while Erik was up close to the entrance. His shirt was tucked neatly into his jeans, and his shoes appeared shined. Overall, he looked far more military than Erik have ever seen him.

“Logan? Is that what you call your boss, bub? Don’t I deserve respect?” His claws reflected the harsh light of Erik’s lamp.

“Of course you do, sir. I was just wondering if you’d like to return to the pod with Daniels and me. It’s break time.” Erik glanced back at the terrified boy, holding his hand palm down to try and signal that everything was ok.

“Weak, huh? I suppose if you’re all on break, no work will be done. Bunch of pissass muties. Let’s go, then.” Logan turned towards the exit, and Erik felt his blood freeze. He couldn’t place what was off. It wasn’t only the hair, his uncharacteristic impatience, or even the slurrs. It was something in the very makeup of his body. Erik stared hard at the man, trying to understand what he was seeing. Daniels nearly ran ahead of them, his spikes shivering as they scraped against the uneven walls.

Crossing back towards the pod, Erik glanced at the giant fan, wishing he could move it for a little airflow. Their sensors had gone off hours ago, but it had been silent ever since the first gust. That wasn’t how they worked. They should have kept screeching. Nothing had broken them during the cave in. That didn’t mean he was ready to trust them though. Something was off, and he hoped it was just the fumes of whatever gas they had released.

* * *

Erik immobilized Howlett as soon as the pod door was closed, and the men tied him up with some spare rope before putting him in the corner furthest the oxygen tanks. They didn’t need stray claws blowing them up. Some MRE packets were passed around and Erik finally let himself rest for a bit.

The quiet murmur of conversation woke him from his doze. When he opened his eyes he found Howlett glaring at him, a soft growl resonating from his chest. Erik sat up carefully and looked around. The group had put as great a distance from themselves and Howlett as possible, and were playing a round of poker.

“Silverfox.” Erik waited until the woman had played her hand and looked up at him before making his request. “Can you do anything about him? Maybe knock him out?”

Purple eyes flicked over to the man before she shook her head. “I’ve been getting a headache, and my powers are erratic when that happens. I could hurt him.”

“Nothing can hurt him. He’s literally indestructible.” Bishop grinned and nudged her with his shoulder. “Go give it a shot. Anything’s better than that creepy ass noise he’s been giving off for the past hour.”

“You guys let me sleep next to him when he’s like that?” Erik stretched and looked over at his bed partner. Jacksy appeared to be actually sleeping now, rather than passed out, which was good. The reporter tripped her way over the men and glanced at Erik for confirmation that she really should try before reaching her hand out and resting it on Howlett’s cheek.

Her flinch was obvious, and Erik tightened his grip on the man’s skeleton. “Go to sleep.” Her tone was firm, though the command was spewed out. Her hand was off Howlett in an instant, and she wiped her palms on her pants several times.

“What?” Erik rose and went to her, rubbing his hands up and down her arms for warmth.

“Don’t make me do that again. He didn’t feel right. I mean, he felt different. Earlier, after the earthquake he was warm, like lemon cookies out of the oven.” The men weren’t too freaked out not to laugh at the description, but those that did were on the receiving end of two glares. “Now he feels,” she shuddered and stepped closer to Erik, ducking under his chin for comfort.

Erik looked back over at his sleeping supervisor. He could understand what the reporter meant. His mind finished the sentence for her. Hateful. Logan felt hateful to him. And he didn’t have a telepathic bone in his body. Some hindbrain added ‘most days,’ and he instinctively tightened his hold on the body in his arms.

“Erik, we need to think of a plan, or something. Darwin, Dukes and Piotr walked back up to the entrance an hour ago, but it’s going on midnight. Alex is going to be scared.” Scott ran a hand through his hair.

“What, like you aren’t?” Daniel’s didn’t look up from the pot as he spat out his caustic comment.

Erik immediately disengaged from Silverfox’s embrace and grabbed Daniels by his shirt collar. “I think it’s bed time, if you start thinking it’s alright to take shots at your coworkers.” He shoved the man over to the bed with Jacksy and looked down at Scott. The boy was looking up at him, fear touching the lines of his forehead. “We’ll get out of here soon. We’re working at it from both ends, and you’ve got the best dig team around you. Just sit tight. Our town looks after each other. Alex is fine.” He was sure of that. If Charles had been home, he would have gone to pick Alex up the moment he’d heard about the cave in.

The thought of Charles brought a pang to his heart, and Erik lay a hand on Scott’s head to comfort the boy as much as himself. Hercules seemed calmer than he had been. Erik wondered at it until he saw the candy wrappers littered around the man. Comfort food had obviously done him good. “I think we all should get some rest. Erik will take first shift.” Bishop looked up at the man who nodded and went to sit in the chair next to the door. He’d keep watch for any of the three coming back.

It was obvious that Silverfox wasn’t finding any rest. She shifted and huffed next to Hercules, her back up against the curved wall. Erik watched her closely, eyes flicking over to Logan periodically. The odd magnetic field was still surrounding him, but Erik couldn’t place what was so off about him. Everyone had a magnetic field, and Erik was able to sense it when he concentrated. Usually, it was a test to see just how tired he was. Out of survival, he was hooked onto everyone’s, monitoring them for abnormalities. Logan was the only one whose signature was off, but he couldn’t explain how. Silverfox had noticed it, too, which was reassuring to some extent.

The woman moaned and grabbed her head, hair tight in her fists. “Come here.” Erik jerked his head in invitation. Silverfox stood up and made her way over Hercules and to his side. Erik closed his eyes and focused on her blood flow. He sent more to her head and handed her a glass of water. “That help?”

Purples eyes filled with gratitude as she looked down at him. “Thank you. What did you do?”

Erik leaned his head back against the wall, closing his eyes for a second. “My husband is a telepath. Weaker than you, mind. But the magnetic pull of the mines messes with his powers. Prone to migraines. I directed your blood towards your head. Water will help keep knots out of your neck, which restricts iron rich blood from reaching your brain. Your —“ he waved his hand vaguely at her, “is more elevated than it was this morning. I don’t know if that means your powers are fluctuating, but it might be what’s causing your headache, too.”

“My—?“ She raised her brow and copied his flippant hand gesture.

“I don’t know what it is. Some electric field that surrounds everyone. I’ve been monitoring everyones. Yours is the only one that’s been spiking every once in a while. Try to get some sleep.”

Silverfox nodded and turned around to go back to her spot. She didn’t move more than a step before turning to face him in profile. “I’m sorry about earlier. I hadn’t realized you were—“ She let the sentence hang, open to interpretation.

Erik smirked and took pity on her. “Don’t worry about it. If we had met under different circumstances, Charles would have been thrilled at your flirting. We’re fairly open.”

“If they weren’t so damn in love, at least.” Daniels’ voice was a discontented grumble against the cement floor he was laying on. “No one cares that you’re a ho. Some people are trying to fucking sleep.” The pointed heel in his calf was completely deserved, in Erik’s opinion.

* * *

Day two in the darkness. Erik woke to the pod door screwing open and admitting three large forms. He shifted over as Darwin all but lay on top of him, sweaty body sticking and sliding uncomfortably against Erik’s arm. Erik shifted over, giving him more space as the other men complained loudly against Dukes smothering them. “Any word from up top?” Erik murmured, turning his head to face Darwin.

Exhausted brown eyes fought to stay awake. “Wilson talked our ear off all through the night. Said diggers and volunteers were excavating as fast as possible. Think we’re getting overtime for this?”

“At least time and a half.” The weak smile Darwin gave was difficult to compare to the normally boisterous one he displayed. Erik closed his eyes again, unable to believe that he had few other options for being useful.

When next he woke, it was to fevered murmuring and frantic shushing. Erik sat up and looked towards Logan who was still out like a light. It was Scott making the quieting noises to Jacksy, who was very much awake. Careful not to jostle Darwin, Erik rose and went over to greet the man. “What time is it?” He asked, glancing at Summers’ digital watch. He saw it was nine-thirty. Far later than he had ever slept, to his memory.

“Well past daybreak. I was thinking of heading up and seeing if there’s crew working towards getting us out. Then I noticed Jacksy whimpering.”

Erik looked at the man, sweating with fever. He frowned and undid the man’s pants, bringing them down to observe the break. It was red and already showing signs of infection. He had thought that the first aid kit had been packed, but it seemed the man’s attendant hadn’t thought to clean out the dirt. A red line was slowly working its way up his thigh from the site. “Get me a thick rope from the cupboard.” Scott rushed to find the requested item, not bothering to keep his movements quiet.

The rest of the team woke up slowly and moved to see what all the fuss was about. Tension in the pod rose as they observed the blood poisoning. Erik tied a tourniquet and closed his eyes, trying to differentiate sick blood from good. All the bodies in the space were hot, and tightly packed. He could feel Dukes breathing down his neck, and a sweat broke out on his forehead as concentration refused to come.

A cool hand landed on his nape, and a soft voice instructed him to be calm. His shields were still down from sleep, and the suggestion implanted itself readily in his mind. Erik’s entire body relaxed, and he could sense the different auras around him. The racing hearts. The bad blood pooling in a blocked vein. There.

Erik found a blade in someone’s back pocket and commandeered it. He sliced open Jacksy’s leg and forced only the bad blood out, guiding it to the toilet where it would be flushed. He collapsed as soon as he’d finished, trusting the others to right the man’s clothes and make sure he didn’t get a crick from the terrible position.


	6. Chapter 6

Charles quickly realized that arranging to leave the conference early was not as easy as he had thought it might be. The emcee had been kind enough to rearrange the schedule so Charles and Moira would speak at the end of the week. Meaning he had to wait until then to fly home.

Presenting wouldn’t be an issue, as his inhibitor had been upgraded to a top-of-the-line blocker. He was lucky the boost had happened in Amsterdam with their universal healthcare, or else he wouldn’t have been able to afford the device. What he was primarily worried about, however, was why he had suddenly seemed to have developed. His colleague and fellow telepath, Emma Frost, had not felt received even the slightest boost in her not inconsiderable abilities. As far as he could tell, he was the only mutant to have felt any difference in his powers.

The only explanation he could come up with was that his accident had delayed his maturation. He had read of cases of children who had not come into their power’s full potential until a large life event had occurred, such as their first orgasm if it was delayed, or an unnaturally high burst of self esteem if they had come from a negative household. Charles couldn’t believe he’d been so delayed by his accident as to have caused such an extreme suspension of power. Besides all of that, he had experience several life changing moments since than. Various moments of his marriage to Erik should have healed any self-doubt he may have internalized. And none of his experiences in Amsterdam had been terribly life affirming.

Regardless, his new strength scared him, and all he wanted was for Erik to hold him close and say everything would be alright. Just as he’d done during every breakdown Charles had experience in a hospital. The closest he got to that was a cold slap of annoyance for any self pity during his new intensive training with Emma.

“If you’re not going to focus, sugar, I’ll just leave you to your headaches and poor defenses.” The blonde lowered her legs from the chaise lounge she had sprawled out on for the current lesson.

“Forgive me, Emma. I’m exhausted. Between the conference, and the networking, and your lessons, I haven’t had a minute to myself in days.” Charles rubbed his forehead as he bit his lip, tears filling his eyes. “And Erik still hasn’t emailed me back. I’m worried.” His confession was whispered, and he regretted it immediately.

Emma was not known for coddling her patients or her students. “Then focus the worry into building shields. If you don’t perfect them now, you could hurt your precious husband when you go back to your little Podunk. Now, block me again.” Charles grit his teeth and erected the fragile walls Emma had been chipping away at all morning.

He had never needed such thick barriers around his mind and the outside world before. Emma was strong, and the only one he could trust to keep him out. He had already noticed that he had influenced Moira’s mind several times since leaving the hospital. It was unfortunate that his room was the only psionic-proof room in the hotel, and it was gauged for low- to mid-leveled mutants. Emma was gracious enough to switch with him at night after he had finished readying himself for bed in his accessible room. It was the only way he could comfortably sleep.

The barrage of thoughts at his tender mind encompassed him and he fell onto his side, pillows catching him and quickly soaking up the blood from his nose. “No! You haven’t got it yet. You need to get this Charles.” His vision was blurred as the angel before him knelt and ran a cool cloth over his forehead. “You can’t afford not to succeed. You’ve achieved everything else you’ve fought for in your life. You’re just not working hard enough to accomplish this.” He had never seen her look so concerned before, and something about the fear in her eyes brought him back to himself.

The knuckles of his hand brushed down her jaw, pushing the waves of her gold hair flat in his uncoordinated touch. “I’ll get it.” He took a shaky breath in and closed his eyes, reveling in the cool water clearing his mind. The ice of her diamond hand helped draw him closer to consciousness as well. Slowly, he allowed her assistance in sitting back up and drinking water from the offered cup. “I’m ready,” he finally managed. Emma looked doubtful, but nodded anyways. She even managed the universal sign for telepathy to help prepare him for her assault.

Charles felt the invasive wave enter, and buffeted them back, focusing on the dome of a bubble. She could look in and see his thoughts, but couldn’t interact with them as she obviously wanted to. Exhaling slowly, he inflated the bubble, pushing her away and clouding the thoughts from her view. She pressed and slid against the dome, slipping against its smooth surface. With one final shove, Charles pressed her out of the vicinity of his mind, blocking her completely.

When he finally came to, he found Emma looking at him with something remarkably close to pride. He grinned even as he fell onto his back on the bed and passed out from exhaustion.

* * *

Moira was entirely too understanding of the situation. She fielded questions from worried colleagues and nosey scholars alike. She kept him up to date on their networking endeavors and potential funding sources. It seemed even Remy was helping raise money for their school, which Charles had trouble believing.

He managed to attend lectures and presentations, but his mind was hardly on the topics of discussion. When he wasn’t panicking over his exponential power boost, he was worrying over the fact that he hadn’t heard from Erik in three days. Nothing had come up on any news sources regarding the mines, but he couldn’t help but worry. Erik had never been so remiss in responding to Charles. Moira did her best to assure him that everything was fine, and he’d know if it weren’t.

It was early morning on his sixth day in Amsterdam when Charles finally gave up on receiving a response. He felt it in his heart that Erik was just too busy to make it to the library to email him. As disappointing as the thought was, he could understand. Erik was always exhausted after work, and with the newest find, they were likely working overtime. He probably barely had energy to take care of David and Magneto. He’d just have to talk to Erik when he got home.

He had a mixer to prepare for, though. It would be the first he’d attend since his hospital stay, and he wasn’t looking forward to it. Emma assured him that his blocker would work perfectly, even with so many minds putting out various information. If they didn’t, she was just a nudge away. Besides, he needed to learn to do things for himself.

And so it was that he was wearing his best blue suit and rolling down to the ferry service provided for by the hotel with Moira by his side. “Remember, if you want to leave, you just let me know. I’ll be right behind you.” She had already told him as much three times that day. Moira was honestly more concerned about the event than Charles. Likely because she would be the one answering to Erik if he injured himself a second time. It didn’t matter though, not really. He needed to make sure he could do it.

With that in mind, he rolled into the rotunda of the party space and immediately grabbed a flute of champagne. The bite of alcohol and bubbles floated through his nose, making him breathe heavily to rid his sinuses of the uncomfortable feeling before he truly delved into the masses.

Thankfully, everyone was respectful, and didn’t crowd him with their concern and well wishes. He moved past those easily enough to discuss the lecture from that morning, and what they expected from the one after lunch. Charles spotted Remy and Kitty watching him from discrete distances, and in turns with Moira. Emma was far more subtle in her monitoring. Though it was likely helped by the fact that her inhibitor had malfunctioned as soon as she’d received it, and so she could just watch his mental activity from a far without worrying nonpsionics.

The headache he’d been battling had retreated thanks to all the medications the hospital had given him, but their effects seemed to be wearing off. Charles rubbed at his forehead as Kurt Wagner, a German philosophy professor, was discussing the ethics behind mutant observation for long term versus short term studies. “Forgive me, my friend. I believe I need a rest before we return to the auditorium. You have my email, yes?” The man immediately nodded and retreated with well-wishes. Remy and Kitty were by his side immediately, hands pressing firmly to his shoulders in a show of support. “I’m fine. I’d just like to return to the hotel.”

“I’ll go ready a ride. You stay with him.” Kitty nodded and watched the man stride off with all the assurance in the world before crouching down to Charles’ level and looking at him with concerned eyes.

“I have some Advil in my bag. Do you want some?”

Charles managed a weak smile as he began heading towards the exit, Kitty following beside him easily. “I think I just need a rest. I’m really not sure what’s gotten into me, recently.”

“How long have you been battling this?” She did her best to keep her shadow on his head, blocking direct light from his eyes.

Charles thought back to the second day of presentations, and grimaced. He had thought it was just from being around so many people after isolating himself for so long. It seemed to be a bigger issue than that, though. Instead of answering, Charles pushed himself faster towards the doors and was grateful to see Remy holding the door of a courier bus open for him. “Bless you, darling.” Charles kissed the man’s cheek in gratitude before transferring and buckling himself in, letting his friends help him with his chair for once.

As soon as he was back in his own, wheelchair accessible, room Charles was in the shower, carefully keeping the bracelet out of contact with the water. He couldn’t hear anything with it on, so far removed from others, and it stated that it was waterproof, but older models had proven otherwise, and Charles refused to risk it.

He let the hot water pound down from the shower head onto his shoulders as he soaked in the warmth. His arm was numb with cold from the temperature difference when he finally grabbed for a towel. A glance at the clock told him he was missing Hank McCoy’s lecture on transmuting genes and recognizing imperfections. It was a highly debated topic, and Charles had been looking forward to it. It seemed he wouldn’t be able to attend, though. He trusted Moira to take good notes. Besides, McCoy was a friend. Charles would just ask him for his notes, and quiz him after thoroughly perusing them.

With a heavy sigh, Charles transferred himself one final time on his bed and let himself relax. Glancing around the empty room, he pulled his chair closer to grab the laptop out of his bag. Still no response from Erik. With a frown, Charles considered his options. There weren’t too many. Erik had insisted that he not call, and it was midnight there anyways. He wouldn’t appreciate being woken up by his worried husband. So instead, Charles went to Erik’s email browser and signed in under his husband’s name. He normally wouldn’t do it, but he really wanted to know whether or not Erik was even getting the notes.

There were twenty unopened emails. All from Charles.

The telepath’s stomach dropped in disappointment. Erik had been too busy to even stop by the library and read the letters. Tears welled in Charles’ eyes as he clicked on the letter labeled “DON’T WORRY!” It detailed his hospital stay, threaded with updates. With a heavy heart, Charles deleted the email and cleared it specifically from Erik’s history. It was old news now. Erik didn’t need to know about the emergency visit.

Guilt welled up from Charles’ stomach as he closed his laptop and set it on the side table. He couldn’t think like that. He was doing Erik a favor by not worrying him over what he couldn’t fix. Charles felt positive that it was the better choice not to tell Erik about the scare at all. And hopefully by the time he got home, his control over his strengthened telepathy would be manageable, and Erik wouldn’t even need to know about it. If it came out, Charles could just explain it away as an anomaly, and nothing to be concerned with. Everything was under control.

Charles closed his eyes and let himself fall into a restless doze, dreaming of a woman screaming, longing to be heard. Her voice echoed off dark halls. A thwack. Silence. A rumble as sonorous as the earth when all machines were off, and only the rhythmic whoosh of a large fan sounded in the mines.


	7. Chapter 7

They were running low on food. Logan was getting thin, though he’d survive skipping meals, but his behavior hadn’t become any more reassuring. Everyone stayed in the pod for the most part. The intermittent scratching and banging was met only with ignored whimpers and huddled bodies. Erik felt lethargic. He hadn’t ventured out in two days. They were on day five of their captivity, and Darwin hadn’t brought back any good news from up top. The batteries in the walkie talkies were going, and Wilson hadn’t sounded optimistic during the last check in.

Jacksy was healing slowly, and he didn’t appear to have a fever anymore. Erik kept a close eye on the blood, checking for red lines, but there was nothing. He was exhausted from monitoring every’s heart rates and whatever their special aura shit was. He just wanted to go home and crawl into bed for a few days.

Scott accidentally kicked Bishop as he shifted positions, making the larger man grumble in annoyance. Other than that, the only noise was Logan’s constant growling. Silverfox hadn’t been able to put him back to sleep once that had started up again. It was unnerving, and none of the men really wanted to go near their overseer. The fact that he reeked of piss and shit wasn’t a point in his favor for help, either.

“I don’t know how much longer I can handle this, man.” Daniels closed his eyes and let his head rest back against the metal wall. “I need some fresh air, and space.”

“I want to remove my visor for a little while,” Scott said with a fond smile.

“I want to absorb whatever you let out, sunbeam.” Bishop grinned at the younger man.

“I want to lay out in the sun and listen to the birds.” Silverfox let out a content sigh, imagining feeling the warmth that wouldn’t actually be present during this season.

“I want to let off some steam at the gym. Punch a few of the punching bags.” Dukes looked over at Jacksy and nudged his good leg.

The human gave a weak smile and closed his own eyes, looking wane. “I want to eat a steak at Morrisey’s.” The group let out a chorus of appreciation.

“What do you want, Hercules?” Bishop looked at the muscular man.

The blond had stayed silent for the majority of their confinement. He now looked from person to person, weighing the likelihood of their judgement. “I want to cuddle my niece’s kittens.” There was silence before a few of the men let out laughs of disbelief. Hercules joined in, wide smile reassuring the group.

“What about you, Lehnsherr? What do you want?” Silverfox’s grin was large as she looked over at their adopted leader.

“Awe, everyone knows he wants to get home to the Professor.”

“The Professor ain’t there, numbskull.” Evan slapped Scott’s arm in reprimand. “Whatchu gonna do when you get out? ‘Cause you know we’re getting out before the Prof gets back.”

Erik tilted his head back in thought. Charles had definitely been his first thought, but he wouldn’t mind being out before the man returned. “I want to fly out to Amsterdam and meet Charles at his conference. I’ll be in his room when he gets back, just watching some stupid TV show and eating some fruit. Something mindless to make him wonder if I’m really there.”

The silence that followed the fantasy was weighted. It was as though the absurdness of the idea revealed the slim likelihood that they’d be getting out alive. That realization pressed tight around the group, stifling breathing.

“I think Howlett could use a walk.” Erik rose and looked towards their supervisor before holding out his hand and dragging the man towards the doors by his bones. Sweat beaded on his forehead, but he trusted that once they were out of the pod Logan would walk on his own. Erik strapped on his gas mask and grabbed a flashlight before nodding to the group to open the door.

It was cold inside the dark space. Erik looked around, loosening his hold on his boss when the man didn’t seem to fight him. He kept a close watch on his movements, though. They’d be screwed if they needed Wolverine for food and Erik lost him during some stupid leg-stretching mission. He wandered up towards the mouth of the cave, not taking the cart this time. Logan followed silently, his breath coming in gasps from fatigue. Erik tried to breathe through his mouth to avoid the stench coming from his friend.

“Nothing to report, friend,” Piotr called from a ways off. He was sitting on a boulder, obviously taking a break.

“Howlett, you back to being yourself, man?” Darwin stopped tossing rocks aside to walk over to the pacing mutant.

“Get back to work, you disgusting pig. What, you think it’s ok to take a break?” Logan glared at Darwin until the other man backed off.

“Guess that’s a no.” Erik checked his hold on Logan, making sure he’d catch him if the claws came out. “Did something happen down at the pod?”

“Just needed to get out.” Erik went over and helped Darwin lever out a larger boulder, standing aside as a small slide started. “Has it been like this the entire time?” He looked back at the path, noting the rivulets in the dirt for the first time.

“Yes. It feels like we make progress, and then Wade says above had another set back. I worry about our oxygen.” Piotr had come over to help, reinvigorated by the novel help. “Do you think we are close to the exit?”

Erik closed his eyes and felt for any sign of human construction above them. He grinned as he felt the distance from a beam. “I think we’re going to be fine,” he assured with a pat to the thick metal arm.

Darwin whooped and began digging faster. Erik had only a few seconds of joy at the knowledge that they were only a mile below ground before he noticed Logan was halfway back down the tunnel. “Keep going, guys. Don’t wear yourselves out too quickly.” He jogged after the shorter man, wondering when Logan had found the energy to become a sprinter.

When Erik finally got back down to the main room, he blinked at the chaos he found. There were pics and shovels strewn everywhere. Long settled dust had been disturbed and was clouding the air as though a second quake had gone through. The large drill was inexplicably on its side, and the fan was missing its protective grate.

Worst of all, Erik didn’t see Logan anywhere. He couldn’t feel him, either. Not among the mess of metal that had been disturbed in his absence. Hammering on the pod door, Erik unbuckled his mask and held it to his face by force. He saw Hercules look through the window before the suction of the door opening sounded. Erik lunged in and slammed it shut before throwing his mask to the side. “Did anyone see Howlett come by here?”

“Yeah, we heard him tossing everything to the side, and then he ran down the hall. What happened?” Scott moved off of the cot that he was kneeling on. Jacksy looked concerned as he hugged a pillow to his chest.

“I don’t know. I was talking with Darwin and Piotr, and the next thing I know, he’s racing down the tunnel. I’m going back out to search for him. The guys are only about a mile to the top, and if the upper crew has made _any ___progress, we’ll be getting out of her soon.” Erik turned back to the door, checking his pocket for the flashlight.

“Hold up man, I’m going with you.” Evan scrambled to his feet and stretched, fingers brushing the ceiling. 

“I will too,” Scott stated, stepping forward. 

“I’ll go up and help the guys make a dent. You wanna boost me, Cyclops?” Bishop grinned at the thought of finally doing something. 

“I’ll join Bishop,” Dukes volunteered. It’d be the first time he was out of the pod since the cave in. Erik wasn’t sure how the man wasn’t sore as hell. 

“Hercules and I will stay with Jacksy.” Silverfox sat down on the cot and put a calming hand on the obviously anxious human. The effect was instantaneous, and Erik was grateful. 

“I appreciate this, guys, but there aren’t enough masks.” 

“Dude, we’ve been in here for five days with the door opening and closing. Do you really think we wouldn’t be dead if there was an exposed pocket?” Scott raised a brow over his visor, arms crossed in skepticism. “Everyone has a flashlight on their hard hat. We’ll be fine.” 

“Besides, we can’t let you have all the fun. Some of us have got to do our workouts to keep up the body the babes crave.” Daniels grinned and slid a hand down his sides as though to accentuate his point. 

Erik gave the away group an assessing look before nodding. “We all signed the waivers, and have our wills filled out. I’m not your boss, and the super is AWOL. Do what you feel you have to.” There was a cheer from the group as they burst out of the enclosed space. Scott and Bishop went up towards the path, away from everyone else as the others began stretching in earnest. 

Erik watched the group revel in their liberation, wishing that he could have offered more. It felt nice to finally breathe without the mask, and Erik felt his lungs expand for what felt like the first time in years. There was laughter coming from the group, and it made the entire ordeal feel far away. 

With a glance at the group, he nodded towards the hallway, and watched them split apart. It was like the first day on the job. Everything felt new, and exciting. Even the tightness of the crevasse didn’t seem to make either of the young men following Erik feel down. It wasn’t until halfway to the other room that the tensions seemed to rise. The silence was broken only by heavy breaths and the scrape of their hardhats on the rock walls. Erik stepped to the right as soon as he made it to the room. He still couldn’t find Logan, and that fact was really starting to get to him. His range was good, and there shouldn’t have been too much interference now that he was out of their base. 

“So now what?” Daniels asked, looking around the empty space. 

“Are we going down there?” Scott was focused on the newest opening, obviously uncomfortable. Erik stared at it as well, smelling the chilled humid air that was wafting up from it. the minerals that had been building gave it a metallic scent that Erik couldn’t manipulate. His fingers twitched in irritation before he began leading the way through the wide hall. 

It had obviously been worked before. The space was too clean to be a naturally formed path, and Erik could sense wires screwed up into the ceiling. He assumed an earlier cave in had blocked the path, and wondered if there had been any miners deep in the bowels of the cave when it had happened. 

If there had been, they weren’t near their exit now. Erik stepped over the mess created from the earthquake, keeping his flashlight trained on the ground as he watched ahead with his headlamp. “Logan?” 

“Howlett? Hey, yo man, we’re gonna be gettin’ out of here soon. No man behind, and what not.” Daniels stumbled and caught himself on Erik, who turned to glance back at their progression. It was difficult to recognize anything in the pitch blackness of the mines. 

“Erik, look out!” Scott grabbed the back of his and Evan’s shirt as the beam of light shone out onto a steep drop. 

“Shit.” Daniels voiced exactly what Erik had been thinking. 

If Logan had run down this hallway, there was a high probability that he had gone right off the edge of the cliff. Their lights found nothing to reflect back at them, though. Erik looked around the walls and found a gradual decline off to the left. He looked back at the pair behind him before making his way down. 

It was a narrow path, and his heart was pounding as his shins shook with the effort to keep him upright. “Where would this lead?” Scott was breathing heavily from not falling down on Daniels, and making everyone tumble to their deaths. 

“Search me. This cave only became accessible after the quake and tremors. None of our machines even picked up on cavities.” Erik grit his teeth as his foot slipped on some silt. 

“Still can’t feel Howlett?” Evan wondered. “I don’t really wanna be going down here if he’s not even gonna be at the bottom.” 

Erik didn’t want to split his concentration, and slowed to a halt so he could close his eyes. “There’s something down there. I think it might be him, but I wouldn’t be able to lift him up.” The others nodded and Erik continued down the side of the wall. The ground flattened abruptly, and Erik felt the others stumble behind him. They swung their lights around frantically, trying to take in the new space. Erik had never been afraid in the caves before the earthquake. He was more than a little apprehensive at the moment, though. 

Skittering sounds echoed through the large space, and Erik watched the two young man press their backs against the wall. A beam of light landed on a body laying prone on the floor, and Erik stepped forward immediately. 

The white wife-beater and corded muscle rather than bone proved it to be Logan, and the men rushed to the unconscious mutant’s side. His entire face was pretty beat up, but the deep gashes were already healing, sealing away the sight of the adamantium skull. It was slower than Erik had ever seen, but it was promising. “Let’s start moving him up. Right now our goal is to get out of here alive.” 

The others agreed, and Erik was grateful that neither had ever been particularly curious or adventurous. The climb back up was terrifying. Erik was grateful that he was the tallest when he learned that that meant he got to go up facing forward. Scott lost the rock-paper-scissors match and ended up walking up backwards. 

It felt like hours trekking back up, and Evan was careful to warn them they got too close to the edge. When the ground finally flattened out again Erik demanded a break. They were going to have trouble getting Logan back through the crevasse of a hallway, but he thought that if they waited a little while, the man might wake up on his own. 

They waited ten minutes before Erik let Daniels take his spot and led the way back through the room and down the hall. He kept looking back to watch the trio carefully. His focus on Logan’s metal was as tight as he could make it. He was so distracted that he missed exiting, and stumbled at the sudden lack of wall behind him. The others fared better and set their burden down to catch their breath. 

Erik looked at the lit up pod and considered going to check on Kayla, Hercules and Jacksy when he heard a whisper. He looked back at the crevasse with a frown. It hadn’t been any of the men. Or even _a_ man, that he could tell. “Shut up.” 

Summers and Daniels went silent immediately and looked back where they had come from. There was no air movement, as it should have been. There were no whispers. Erik shivered and grabbed Logan under one arm. Evan took the other arm quickly and followed Erik’s lead. He wasn’t entirely sure what he would do, but he needed to do something. Needed to get away from the ominous susurrations. “Is it ok if I go up top and help out?” Scott asked as they neared the pod door. 

“Yeah. I want us out of here by sundown.” Scott grinned and began the long walk up to the exit. Erik opened the door and squinted in the bright whiteness of the space. 

“Oh my god!” Kayla was over and grabbing Logan from Evan immediately. “Stay asleep,” she implored. Erik brought the man to the bed and nearly collapsed on top of him himself. Hercules handed Erik a bottle of water and a bit of jerky. They were low on supplies, but with their freedom coming soon, Erik wasn’t too worried about being greedy. “Where was he? In the room?” 

Erik shook his head and closed his eyes, thinking back to the enormous space. Evan went into detail about their exploration. He had noticed more than Erik, who had just wanted to get it over with. “And at the bottom, where we finally found Howlett, he had nearly crushed some bones. The skeleton was wearing some pretty nice digs. Looked military. And he must have been holding onto his wife or something. The other bones were definitely wearing a dress. It was creepy, man. We cannot get out of here fast enough.” 

“Any chance you’d take me or Hercules down there again? It’d be nice to get a shot.” Erik opened his eyes enough to catch the enticing smile Kayla was throwing Daniels, and he grunted in protest. “Can you blame me? You made me stop recording everyone right after the earthquake. I’ve had to do solo documentary-style videos for the past five days just in the hopes that I’ll keep my job. Getting a clip of some real bodies? That would be worth a book!” 

“I’ll talk with Shaw about you getting priority when they take them out of here, baby. Don’t you worry.” Evan grinned back at her, and Erik let out a huff of laughter. 

“Is it safe out there?” Hercules was sitting next to Logan on the cot. His large hand ran through the untidy black hair soothingly. 

“We didn’t die while we were out there,” Erik observed sleepily. “Why do you ask?” 

“I was thinking of going up to help.” Erik nodded towards the door, giving permission. 

“I’ll make sure Logan stays asleep, if you want to get some rest.” Kayla took her cameraman’s spot and ran her fingers up and down Logan’s head and neck. 

Erik rose from the cot and looked down at the woman as she repositioned herself so Logan’s head was in her lap. He was so tired, and so ready to go home. Her brown hair was oily from not being washed, and the length was completely wrong, but for a moment, all Erik saw was the shade. His chest contracted at the thought of his husband, and he forced himself to go to Jacksy’s bed. The man shifted from where he sat, giving Erik enough room to lie down. 

Erik was asleep as soon as his head his the pillow. 


	8. Chapter 8

The flight back to JFK was exhausting, and then the connecting to Roanoke was a trial. Charles was just glad that his inhibitor worked well, and his shields were stronger. Emma had gone all out on his last day in Amsterdam.

The small airport was bustling with activity of afternoon flights, and Charles didn’t feel the least bit guilty when he ran over a businessman’s toes. Everyone else moved out of his way, and really, the man had looked straight at Charles when he was a few feet away, and had just stayed put. The invectives yelled afterwards were quite creative, in Charles’ opinion.

Their luggage retrieved, and the car found, Charles let himself relax back into the van’s seat. Moira had downed an energy drink to combat the jet lag. He trusted her, and fell into a light doze that lasted the entire ride home.

“See? I told you. Nothing to worry about.” Moira’s voice woke Charles, who tried to discreetly wipe the drool off his chin as he blinked for focus.

There stood his house, whole and not burnt to the ground. David was barking wildly and jumping up, fighting the leash that Erik was using to keep the dog back from the driveway.

As soon as Moira had stopped the car, David was free and flying. He smacked heavily into the side of the truck, and everyone winced in sympathy. Erik pulled the dog back to let Charles open the door before lifting the animal and letting him smell his owner. Charles laughed and ran his fingers through the dog’s fur lovingly.

Too excited to stay up for long, Erik let David down and stepped forward to kiss his husband.

The kiss was desperate, and Charles felt the man clinging to him. He knew he was just as bad, with his hands fisted in the soft blue of Erik’s sweater, and tears running down his cheeks. When they finally parted for air, he smacked Erik’s chest with an open palm. “Why didn’t you ever respond?”

Erik had been crying too, and his breathing was shaky as he leaned down for another pressing kiss. His hands shook where they rested at the column of Charles’ neck. “I love you. So much.” He punctuated his sentences with more kisses.

Charles finally managed to pull away long enough to get his wheelchair out of the car and onto the ground. Erik didn’t even give him a choice in transferring, though. He grabbed Charles up from the seat and carried him to the house, chair and luggage following dutifully behind him.

“See you on Monday, Charles!” Moira called from the front yard where she was playing with David.

Charles sent her a deliberate pulse of gratitude despite his distraction. Erik dropped him on the bed and he stayed cognizant enough of his surroundings to notice when Moira let David back in and left down the road. As soon as he ascertained that she was leaving, he focused solely on his husband.

“You got thin.” He let out a sob of frustration as he felt Erik’s ribs under the sweater. “Did you forget to eat while I was gone?”

Erik was pressing fervent kisses to Charles’ forehead and cheeks. His mouth trailed past Charles’ lips and he sucked a mark just under his husband’s jawline. Erik didn’t move to undress the man beneath him. Charles wondered if Erik even realized just how tightly he was holding onto Charles’ biceps.

The man crawled closer, straddling Charles’ legs and inching forward until he was pressed as tight to his husband as possible while still being able to keep his mouth on skin. Charles tried his best to pull back far enough to remove clothing, but Erik wouldn’t let him. The whines and moans he made echoed through the room, drowning out the scratching of dog’s nails, and mews of a neglected cat.

Erik kissed Charles’ temple, and the spark that flew between them literally shocked the pair into stillness. Charles saw darkness, smelled fear, and lust, and longing. He clung tighter to the man above him, palming at his husband’s crotch, trying to provide friction for the man. Erik sobbed against Charles’ ear and went still.

The room was hot, and small. Sweat had only just begun to bead on his forehead, and yet he could feel the tell-tale dampness of Erik’s orgasm. Had felt the shock permeate the room.

Erik stayed still, though his grip finally loosened. Charles moved his hand from the front of Erik’s jeans to pull him closer in a comforting embrace. He was still angry at the neglect Erik had shown in their correspondences, but the man had obviously not been well.

He stroked Erik’s back for a few minutes before carefully maneuvering him down into a horizontal position. Charles propped himself up on an elbow after adjusting his legs, and looked down at Erik, who seemed incapable of being more than a centimeter away from Charles at the moment. He grabbed the telepath to him, and held tight. Charles didn’t want to begin to imagine how uncomfortable the man must be, but allowed him his own choices as he held Erik’s face to his coat, which he hadn’t even had a chance to remove yet.

With careful coaxing, Charles found enough space to take the olive green garment off and let Erik rub his face into the shirt Charles had worn his entire trip on the stuffy plane. He felt disgusting, but Erik didn’t seem to notice. Charles took his time cataloging the differences. He had noticed that Erik was slimmer, but now that he had an opportunity to really pay attention, he was actually concerned with just how much weight his husband had lost. David hadn’t seemed to have lost weight, and while he hadn’t had a chance to see Magneto, Charles couldn’t imagine the dog had been fed and the cat had starved. So the neglect had been entirely human.

Besides that, Charles couldn’t forget the flash of whatever he had seen when Erik had kissed his temple. The emotions swirling through his husband’s mind and psyche were overwhelming and unfamiliar, and entirely surprising. Charles shored up the walls of his telepathy. He wouldn’t go poking about before he’d warned Erik of his power surge. But he also didn’t want to focus on that at the moment. He wanted to find out just why Erik had be starving himself as well as why he hadn’t gone to the library once to email Charles back.

His fingers ran through Erik’s hair, playing with the soft strands and listening to the heavy breaths Erik was still emitting. “Will you talk to me, now?” The question was meant to be soft, gentle teasing. The reaction he got was completely uncalled for. Erik’s grip tightened around his waist, and his nose pressed firmly to Charles’ chest. Charles returned the hug, trying to squeeze out the bad emotions that suddenly condensed in the air. “Darling, it’s alright. Everything is alright now. I just want to know how your week went.” It wasn’t the right thing. Erik stayed just where he was, as mute as before.

Charles gave into jet lagged exhaustion before he managed to wheedle any information out of his husband.

* * *

Charles woke up naturally throughout the night to shift, and Erik was clinging just as desperately to him every time he woke up. Finally, with the sun shining through the window and Charles’ alarm buzzing, the telepath refused to stay in bed any longer. He’d gotten back at four the night before, and fallen asleep within half an hour of returning home. He needed to get out of bed.

The shower he took was amazing. Cleaning his teeth and brushing his hair out made him feel like a new man again. Returning to Erik’s side was just a bonus. Charles was actually surprised when Erik drew closer to Charles’ hips while still asleep, nuzzling the numb thigh with his nose. Charles glanced at the clock before shaking Erik’s shoulder to wake him.

“Not that I’m not thrilled you’re still here, darling, but shouldn’t you be at work?” Erik clung to Charles’ leg and kept his eyes tight shut.

“What time is it?” he finally asked, voice raw from crying and disuse. Charles reached for the glass of water he’d collected, and held the straw down for Erik to suck at.

“It’s just after nine in the morning. You’re already rather late, though the phone hasn’t rung.” He frowned at the landline, wondering why James or Wade hadn’t called for Erik.

The man finally sat up and demanded a kiss. It was stale, and Erik tried his best to keep his chaste despite his obvious need for connection. Finally withdrawing, he rose from the bed and went to shower. Charles was almost tempted to join him. He settled for leaning forward so he had a clear view of the bathroom when Erik finally got out.

Erik brushed his teeth before he made his way back to the bedroom completely naked. Charles grinned and held his arms out in invitation, which Erik accepted readily. This time Erik managed to last longer, and he finally noticed the new inhibitor on his husband’s wrist, though he only kissed it before moving on to Charles’ hand, and then fingers, which morphed into lovely rhythmic sucking.

Charles rode along with the orgasm this round, feeling it more intensely than he ever had before. They lay on the bed sheets, catching their breath as Erik attached himself to Charles’ side, despite the heat. “You’re certainly clingy now. I would go away more often if I weren’t so worried you’d starve yourself to death.” He gave a teasing pinch to Erik’s side.

Erik squirmed away from menacing fingers, trying to distract his husband with lingering kisses to what skin he could reach. “Hmm, those weren’t by choice.”

“Oh?”

“There was a cave in.” All post-sex euphoria left Charles instantly. Erik seemed to be ignoring the tensing muscles as he drew lazy patterns on the pec he wasn’t using as a pillow. “My team, a reporter, and a cameraman were stuck in the mines for five days.” He shuddered, obviously reliving the time. He also gripped his husband tight again, keeping him close. “Jacksy is out of commission, but he’s the only one.” Erik had to stop his story as Charles hugged him close, squeezing tight. Erik returned the embrace. Charles could already tell that Erik was beginning to come back to himself, though. The hug wasn’t as desperate as before. It was shorter. This time it was Charles in need of comfort.

“Why didn’t I get a call? Or an email? I would’ve come home immediately.”

Erik’s laugh was closer to an exhalation of amusement as he leaned back to smile down at Charles. “I’m glad they couldn’t find your email, then. You wouldn’t have been able to do anything. The above ground crew was working as hard as they could to clear the way. Darwin and Colossus were doing the same from the other end.”

“Not Logan?” Charles frowned, surprised.

“Logan,” Erik swallowed hard, throat clicking. “Logan got pretty bad halfway through the week. We’re still not sure what happened. He’s fine now. They brought him to the hospital the night before.”

“Wait, what? Only the night before?”

“Well, they took him as soon as we could get out.” Erik grinned at the completely gobsmacked face. He kissed Charles on the nose before going back to his story. “Anyways, something happened to him, mentally. He was acting odd. Hostile. It’s hard to explain.”

“Erik, shouldn’t _you_ be in hospital? I mean, you were in a cave in. Fuck!” Charles wasn’t sure what he was going to do, but he needed to move. And so he transferred over to his chair and went to the dresser for clothes.

“I’m fine. I just need to take some nutritional supplements, and do some exercises. Don’t worry. They actually released me, and I set up a checkup for next week. Come back to bed.”

“Oh no, you need food. I’m going to make you breakfast, and you can either stay in bed, or join me in the kitchen.” Erik didn’t seem to consider the former an option, as he rose from the bed as soon as Charles voiced his intentions.

Erik was obviously weak, as he sat at the small table immediately after letting David outside. Magneto was up in Charles’ lap as soon as the bedroom door was open, and refused to leave even when Charles began taking out a pan for the eggs. He was reaching for the carton in the fridge when he felt a pull at his inhibitor. “That’s new. And strong.”

Charles glanced at the ugly white bracelet before grabbing the eggs and a mixing bowl. “I had a bit of an adventure of my own while in Amsterdam.”

“How was that? I feel terrible for not asking you.” Erik rubbed a hand over his face, berating himself.

Charles whisked the eggs with a fork and added a bit of milk before pouring them into the pan, avoiding eye contact. He had to collect himself. Decide what he was going to tell his husband. Erik obviously didn’t need the stress of learning that Charles had been in the hospital as well. He finally decided on skimming over the events. Generalizing them.

“Amsterdam was wonderful. Remy and Moira were there. Remy took me to the red light district, and then I met with Emma a few times. Our research was well received, and we were awarded several grants.”

“And the suppressor? Why are you still wearing it? You’re home now.” Erik gave him a small smile, his powers tugging at the edge of the bracelet, coaxing it off.

Charles tightened his hand into a fist, making it too large for the circle to slip over. “I had a mishap.” That took the grin from Erik’s face. “I’m not sure what really happened. But my powers are quite a bit stronger now. I’d rather wear the bracelet for a while longer yet. Just until I shore up my walls better.” Erik nodded and rose, going to stand behind Charles and bending to hug him around the neck, forearms resting comfortingly on his collarbone.

Erik kissed Charles’ temple, the familiar spark of telepathy running through them. The only thing Charles picked up on was love, and he melted back into the embrace for half a second before stirring the eggs in the pan with his spoon. “You don’t have to give me reasons, Charles. You can wear the suppressor if it’s comforting for you. Just know that I don’t need you to wear it for my own safety.” Erik grabbed milk out of the fridge and a white pharmacy bag off the counter. He also called a metal-bottomed glass from the cupboard over to him and downed numerous pills as Charles plated their meal, somehow managing to keep the cat from getting any despite his best efforts.

They ate in silence, their hands reaching out periodically to pet the other’s fingers. “How many days off will you get?” Charles tried to imagine Erik not going into work for days at a time, and failed. Erik always worked, and hated being still. Even on weekends, he would be going around the house seeing what he could fix or tighten.

“A week. I’ll go back on Thursday. Though, that’s only how long I’ll be compensated for. I won’t be able to work until the mine is open again.”

Charles frowned and leaned back in his chair, letting Erik handle the dirty dishes as Charles pet the cat. “Why wouldn’t you be helping reopen it? You’ve gone over to other mines to clear out tremor messes before. It’s not like they can’t trust you with that work.” Erik grunted and kept his eyes averted. “What happened down there?”

Erik sighed and placed the dishes in the machine, delaying his answer. Finally, there was nothing else to focus on, and he turned to lean back against the low countertop. “I need to go to a psychiatrist to ascertain my stability. Logan may have been the only one actually affected, but there was—“ he cut himself off, swallowing hard in thought. Charles felt the fear permeating off his husband as Erik relived whatever had happened to him while Charles was away in Amsterdam.

Charles went over and grabbed Erik’s hand in his, kissing the knuckles comfortingly. “Let’s go to the city. We’ll go to the park, get a nice lunch, maybe do some window shopping.” He grinned through the wash of appreciation encompassing his telepathy. He’d have to focus on his walls a little more, but it would be good practice.

* * *

Two trips to the city in as many weeks was an extravagance that Charles hadn’t thought they’d ever accomplish. It was nice, though. He kept up a steady stream of conversation centered around the convention presentations and cocktail hours. He dutifully avoided his stint of recovery, making it seem as though his powers coming in full hadn’t laid him out for an entire day. Erik laughed at all the appropriate places, and Charles felt him finally relax as they meandered through the labyrinthine paths of the park.

Lunch was spent gripping overpriced coffee and sandwiches to them as they huddled near the gas fire in a chain coffee shop. It was nice, and Charles was glad that they had gone through with the trip.

Of course, he was also glad to get back home and play with David. The poor dog had been neglected, even with Alex Summers apparently camping out in their kitchen when he wasn’t at school. That had been a shock. The boy had pet sat for them before, if one of them was sick, or they had to go to a city meeting, but he had never spent the night in their house. His review was that the floor was lumpy. As Charles had complained of that himself several times, it wasn’t news to them.

Magneto wouldn’t leave Charles alone. Seemed to insist on drooling all over his newest accessory. Erik was content to sit beside Charles on the couch, playing tug-of-war with David as they watched the wind blow at the trees. “Are you ready to talk about the mines, now?” Charles asked later that night.

Erik had his arm around his husband’s shoulders and was obviously enjoying the peace he had found in the moment. He let out an exhausted sigh as sat back up, physically withdrawing. “I’m not sure what it was, but there was something down there. When I say that Logan was acting different, I mean that it felt like he was possessed.” Charles snorted, and Erik smiled at the skepticism wafting off the smaller man. “There were times that everyone was in the pod, and there was banging on the door. Or scurrying over the roof. It was unsettling.”

Charles had originally decided to let Erik have his space to relive the moment, but he couldn’t accept the distance any longer, and grabbed Erik’s hand in his own. “You could show me, if it’s too difficult to put into words,” he offered.

Erik focused on the trees outside. His jaw was clenched and the tug toy David was try to steal became immobile. Charles touched his new bracelet, fingers sliding along the smooth plastic shell. “I don’t want you to.” It was soft, but Charles heard it. He heard the conviction behind the wish, and he moved his hand from the inhibitor.

Erik glanced over, and Charles wondered if he had felt the heat change from the contact. “What will happen if you take that off?” Erik released the rope and took up Charles hand, looking more closely at the suppressor.

“Out here, I’m not sure. I think we’re far enough away from civilization that I’ll only really hear you. I still need to practice blocking information. I’ve gotten pretty good at keeping other telepaths out, though.” His grin was filled with self recrimination. Erik’s powers latched onto the bracelet and slid it off. Charles closed his eyes and took in the sudden freedom granted to his powers. They spread and flexed. He _felt_ Erik take in a shocked breath more than heard it. He could hear whispers of thoughts from hikers and campers. People at the bar miles away were busy getting drunk already, and Charles curbed his powers away from the experience.

When he finally came back to himself, he was on the floor with Erik over him, protecting his face from curious animals. “Just how much power did you gain from that delayed puberty?” Erik asked. His eyes were wide, and bright with tears. Charles began laughing as he wrapped his arms around Erik’s neck, bringing him down for a euphoric kiss. David barked excitedly and slapped the rope around in hopes of more games as his owners tackled each other on the floor. 

Their game didn’t progress past kissing, though. Erik drew back with a deep gasp and sat back up, putting a hand to his forehead. Charles withdrew quickly, watching the other man sway. “I’m sorry, did I hurt you?” 

“No.” His pained tone wasn’t entirely reassuring. “I’m not used to having so little of myself in my own mind, I suppose.” Erik forced an eye open to convey apology as Charles looked around for the bracelet again. Erik floated it up into his husband’s line of sight, but kept it out of reach. “I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. I just need a little time to recover.” Charles still held out his hand, but didn’t put it back on when Erik deigned to return it. “How did you handle that in the city?” 

Charles shook his head and got back up onto the couch. “I never took off the suppressor. Emma trained me in a telepath proof room whenever we weren’t at the conference. I’m afraid I didn’t get much sightseeing done.” 

“I thought you said you did end up at the red district.” 

“That was directly before I had the power surge. I got some shopping done. It should be in my bags, still.” Erik grinned and just sat back up on the couch, obviously content to leave it for the time being. “I promise I’ll get better control. I don’t want to wear it all the time.” 

Erik kissed Charles’ temple, breathing heavily through the blast of power, but staying in contact. “I don’t want you wearing it all the time,” he agreed. 


	9. Chapter 9

“What ever happened to Logan?” Charles let his fingers trail absently along the vein on his husband’s forearm. “You said he had to go to the hospital?”

Erik hummed and rubbed his nose back and forth in Charles’ hair, relishing the connection. “I’m not sure what made him go crazy, but he started using dated anti-mutant slurs, and acting more like an army captain than our actual foreman. We tied him up and knocked him out so he wouldn’t hurt anyone.” Erik was much calmer after his evening shower, and Charles snuggled deeper into the bed, relishing their nearness. It was exactly what he had wanted after he’d learned of his power spike in Amsterdam. “It didn’t really work, though.”

Charles kept his eyes closed, completely comfortable in the knowledge that he was holding his husband safely in his arms, and that the end of the story couldn’t be that bad. “What do you mean?”

“I ended up losing him when I brought him out of the pod to stretch our legs. He had gone to that new room we’d found, and beyond. I’d mentioned that the earthquake had shifted some more rocks?” Charles nodded and turned his head so he could stare at the water spot on the ceiling above their bed. “Well, he had apparently run off the edge of the cliff in the new room. Summers, Daniels and I went down and collected him. He’d nearly landed on a pair of skeletons. Not sure how they got down there.”

“Really? That’s fascinating.” Charles sat up and looked at Erik expectantly.

For his own part, Erik just shook his head. “Not really. Scott and Daniels were the ones that had noticed them. I’d been focusing on making sure Logan was ok. He’d been pretty weak before that. Apparently one had been wearing a Colonel’s uniform from years ago, and the other had been in a dress. Maybe they’d been touring a dead mine when they’d gotten trapped. That’s not really the exciting part, though?”

“Oh no?” Charles raised a brow, small smirk touching his lips. Erik allowed himself to be distracted enough to kiss his husband before he sat back again ran a welcoming hand over Magneto’s fur. “What could be more exciting than a long dead couple in a cave?”

“After we got back, Silverfox and Hercules watched Logan while I took a nap. Apparently things got violent.”

“Apparently?”

“I was out. I’d been monitoring everyone’s health levels the entire week, and had believed we were finally in the clear. When I woke up, it was to Silverfox standing over me. Only she wasn’t really standing. There was something about her I hadn’t felt before.” Charles snorted, and Erik was sent the distinct impression of heart eyes thumping from his own face as he gazed at Kayla Silverfox of MuTV. “Charming.” Erik pulled away for a second before allowing himself to be reeled back in until he had to draw his arm around his husband’s shoulders to be comfortable again. “No, it was like she a —a second presence in her. She radiated power. Almost like when you took off the inhibitor.”

Erik raised Charles’ bare wrist to his lips at the reminder. Charles grinned and disengaged to grab the glass of water on his bedside table. “So she was an empath with persuasive powers, and suddenly she’s stronger? What did she do with her new strength?”

“She told me to run.” Erik’s smile had disappeared, and his gaze had entered back into his memories. Charles only hesitated for a second before joining him.

_The pod was no longer the sterile white Charles had known it to be. It was lived in, with trampled dirt and wrappers everywhere. He could smell the stale and dirty air, but that was the main focus. All Erik could think of now was getting up and carrying Jacksy to the surface. Silverfox had nearly floated out of the pod, and Erik struggled to get Jacksy up into his arms. The man wrapped his arms around Erik’s throat as he situated himself on the mutant’s back. Erik glanced towards the hallway just in time to see dark hair disappear from sight. He rushed towards the cart, helmet light bouncing in his path, making the trek dangerous. Axes and pics still littered the floor, and he ended up kicking a stray bucket and bruising his toe. Despite that, Jacksy still urged him on, babbling about Howlett going crazy._

_They passed Hercules on their way up, and pulled him in so. The entire team was working hard with the tools they had. “Perfect timing, friends. Bishop was just about to go down and tell you we are almost done.” Piotr grinned as his metal fist pulverized a rock._

_“I think we might want to hurry.”_

_“Howlett left the pod and Silverfox is crazy now, too. She chased after him, calling him Stryker.” Hercules pulled and threw stray rocks aside, insisting on helping as much as he could. Jacksy was sat on a rock explaining what had happened. “Her hair was doing some crazy things with no wind, too. I’m ready to get the fuck out of here. Y’know?”_

_No one could blame the men for laziness now. Erik felt his muscles burning as he wielded two axes and a pic to try and get through safely. He could clearly feel the same instruments being used only a few feet from them on the other side of the wall. The fact that they were able to take a breath of fresh air just before Erik felt the tremor from far below was enough to rally his spirits, and call out a warning to all present._

_The blast cleared the remaining rubble, but the heat was terrible. Erik managed to dive under Piotr while Hercules shielded Jacksy from the blast. The others hid as well, but Erik heard a few people on the other side scream as rocks tumbled onto them._

_When Erik finally looked up, it was to see Ororo Munroe running through the crowds asking who was most injured. Erik managed to flag her down and point her to Jacksy before crawling over to the rest of his crew to assess damages. No one seemed especially hurt, and Erik managed to get Daniels over his shoulders as he made his way out into the evening sunlight._

_The crowd outside cheered and clapped, their volume startling the men staggering out of the mines. Erik pushed past a welcoming Shaw and over to Wade, who immediately took Evan into his arms and led him to the medics, congratulating the team on making it out. When he came back, Wade looked concerned. “Where’s my Wolvy?”_

_“Down in the mines. I think he might have been where the blast originated from.” Erik was exhausted, but determination to find all his men filled him, and he turned to reenter the mines. The part of Charles that was still Charles observing was beyond grateful when Ororo stepped infront of his husband and made him sit on the back of volunteer firetruck for examination. Erik only had eyes for the entrance of the caves._

_The truck whose bed he was on started to move when he saw it. Erik slapped his hand against the back windows and the truck stopped just as Logan came stumbling out of the mouth of the cave carrying Silverfox in his arms. MuTV was already on sight filming as the crowd pushed in with their questions. Erik watched in dumbfound amazement as Logan was guided to Shaw’s Tesla, where he made sure both mutants were carefully placed in the back and taken from the site. Logan’s own ride followed directly behind them to the hospital._

The memory ended and Charles found himself focusing on his own face, the queue that he should retreat from Erik’s mind. “Do you want to visit him tomorrow?” Charles whispered the suggestion into the room, unsure how welcome and idea it would be at the moment.

Erik nodded and let himself fall asleep a few minutes later. Charles decided to send his mind out to check in on the foreman immediately, though.

What he found was disturbing. Where Logan’s mind was formerly a familiar landscape of blankness, it was now a torn battleground of war and hatred. Spots of familiarity remained untouched, but even as Charles watched, those areas were being eaten away at by the darkness.

_”Help him, Professor. We have to help him.”_

Charles looked into himself, into his power, and startled at the sight. He had always felt his telepathy to be white, like summer clouds. Not the red flames that were burning them orange and yellow. The speaker was a woman in a mint green dress, her auburn hair at odds with the coolness of her dress. It was at odds with her entire being, and Charles shielded his eyes from her glory.

_”I was too weak to save him, but with our powers combined, he will not rise._

Charles blinked and he was standing in the mines. Only they weren’t the mines as he knew them through Erik’s memories. These were older, and newer. The equipment was less machinery. It smelled of refuse, and animal droppings. Old electric lanterns hung from the ceiling rather than heavy duty spot lights.

The men worked primarily with their pics and axes. No powers to be seen, with the exception of the woman in the mint dress. She stood alone in the center of a great cleared space, arms raised and brow furrowed in concentration as she moved her arms, conducting loose rocks to a pile. “Make sure that roof is bolstered, Grey. I won’t have you mutie scum killing us with your lazy inattentions.”

The speaker was the Colonel Erik has spoken of. And it seemed the pair of skeletons hadn’t been married. Or Charles hoped they weren’t.

_Stryker meant to kill us all. He reviled us. And yet he was one of us. At least in the end._

Charles looked back at the powerful telekinetic. She was staring straight at him, and he walked over to her.

“I don’t understand why he’s so dangerous. Many people still hate mutants. They have no leg to stand on anymore, though. They are fazing out.”

The landscape shifted and Charles assumed that he was at the bottom of the pit Erik had described. A path ran along the wall, spiraling down to where Charles stood.

 _”You’re not getting out of here, Colonel. My kind are the people of the future. I won’t let you hurt them!”_ The knowledge of the Great Mutant Gathering of the 20’s flashed through Charles’ mind, providing context. As well as the knowledge that Stryker had every intention of stealing sticks of dynamite and bombing the Mall this weekend.

 _”You can’t stop me, Grey.”_ Stryker moved to walk up the path, but found himself frozen.

 _”Everyone, get out. I’m bringing this place down._ Jean’s powers projected throughout the mines. Charles spun as men ran past him, taking her warning seriously. No one appeared to care for their foreman well enough to stop the mutant. If anything, Charles thought he could make out joy and support from the fleeing miners.

 _”Let. Me. Go._ Stryker’s face was red with anger, and Charles watched in amazement as the man seemed to burst from his skin. The black shadows he had seen in Logan undulated around Stryker, lashing out, trying to latch on to workers as they passed. Jean Grey kept the tendrils in check, making sure he didn’t get even the smallest ounce of freedom.

And then Charles felt it. The rumbling. The shaking. Jean’s powers had seeped into the very earth, and was taking away sections of the mine with her. She sensed people tripping, and was unable to stop their deaths. She regretted it, and with her regret came inattention. Her inattention for even a moment meant that Stryker’s very being flashed out of him, and he crumpled against the floor. Charles sensed Jean corral the aura into a side chamber and trap it. The chamber was the same one Erik had mentioned Darwin and Dukes finding just before their earthquake.

_”If we don’t help your friend now, all will be lost. Stryker is manipulative, and smart. He will be able to adapt to your world. To speak into the ears of the ones in power. All you have managed for rights will crumble. I found you through your big six. I knew you had more strength, and could handle mine as well. Please. Help me. Help everyone. Your friend doesn’t have much time.”_

Charles was back on the battlegrounds of Logan’s mind, able to assess the truth of the statement for himself. Logan was obviously losing ground. “You didn’t need to explain all of that, darling. I would have tried to help my friend regardless.” Charles walked across the dying grass, feeling the strength in his strides. His powers flexed, and before each step the shadows were destroyed. Nothing left in its place but the appropriate landscape of his friend’s mind, though slightly scarred.

Charles felt the Phoenix rise up above him, its flames scouring the lands, allowing Charles to work on healing and protecting the mind he cared for so deeply. Jean would not have been able to return Logan to himself. She had not known him, and he would not have known who he was upon waking. But with the Professor’s help, Logan would make a slow, painful recovery. He may be slower to react for a few days, but even as Charles moved deeper, he sensed the areas he had already passed knitting back together.

After what seemed like ages, Charles had made it through all of Logan’s mind, positive that not a trace of Stryker was left. Only the Professor and the Phoenix were aware of their presence in this unconscious mind, and now they stood before one another. _”You are good, Professor.”_

“I believe it is past time for you to rest, my dear.” Charles gave her a smile, and held out his hand to the woman. She stepped forward and hugged him, form bending to his as he returned to his own body.

When Charles woke the next morning, he found his walls and powers far easier to control. The Phoenix had given him the gift of her control. He would never possess her telekinesis, but he didn’t need that. The knowledge that he would never have to wear an inhibitor again was enough.

* * *

The trip to the hospital was a happy one. Charles had been fully rested when he’d woken up to Erik’s morning shower. They’d had a filling meal and played with the animals until noon, before heading over to visit with Logan.

The foreman’s room was strewn with flowers and get-well cards. Charles was even surprised to find a woman sitting beside Wolverine, reading him a book of legends. “Erik! It’s been a while!” Silverfox rose from her chair with the utmost grace and crossed over to hug Erik at the doorway. “He’s actually just woken up this morning, so good timing.” She turned to the side, effectively blocking Charles from entering the room with his husband. Erik didn’t seem to notice, though, as he strode in with a glad greeting for his friend. “I thought we could give them a few minutes?”

Charles allowed himself to judge the woman for a few seconds before rolling back into the hallway. “So, you’re the Professor? I’ve heard some interesting tales about you.” Purple eyes danced mischievously.

Charles was not above playing that game, as he leaned forward to engage her. “And I you, Ms. Silverfox. It seems my husband made quite the impression.” To her credit, the blush on her cheeks was subtle, and she didn’t even appear ashamed. “In all seriousness, I’m glad you managed to make it out safely. And thank you, for saving Erik.”

Kayla shifted awkwardly in the hallway, heels lightly clicking on the tiles. “That wasn’t me, actually. I don’t know what happened.” Charles let himself read her surface thoughts and got the gist.

He nodded and sat back, nodding to the bench next to him. “Perhaps I can explain it to you while our boys catch up?” Kayla nodded and listened with interest and Charles filled her in on the full story she had just lived through.

Erik had politely kept Logan distracted until he’d heard the end of the account before inviting the pair back in. They weren’t allowed to stay for long, and everyone made sure not to tell Logan the accounts of what he had missed, but it had been an easier bullet to dodge when Charles had found the dildo masquerading as a vase on his bedside table. Wade was always a lengthy topic of conversation. And not even an unamusing one.

When Charles and Erik finally returned home, it was well past dark, and the only thing they were willing to make was spaghetti. Erik volunteered cleanup duty, and told Charles to go get ready for bed.

The telepath fell asleep before Erik managed to return, damning his jet lag even as he succumbed to the comfortable bed.

* * *

Erik rarely manages to stay up later than his husband. On the nights that he does, though, he appreciates the silence and unhurried atmosphere of the house. Even with the wind blowing branches against the siding, and the screaming gusts coming off the hills, Erik finds solace in the quiet. It’s just him, the clicking of David’s claws, the content purring from Magneto, and the skritch-scratching of his pencil on paper. He had a lot of poems to make up for during his time away, and he had found a good one at the hospital.

>   
>  Underneath my outside face  
>  There’s a face that none can see.  
>  A little less smiley,  
>  A little less sure,  
>  But a whole lot more like me.
> 
> -Shel Silverstein
> 
> _You always see the real me  
>  E_  
> 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed the story! I had a lot of fun writing it. If you have any lingering questions, feel free to ask them, and I'll try my best to give you an answer. Or if you noticed I left any gaping plot holes. I didn't have a beta for this one, so feel free to let me know what I missed!


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